Beyond Reasonable Doubt Poem by Nicola Kelly

Beyond reasonable doubt

The story revealed to the court,
Was that of a  young boy,
He was only 12 years old,
Was not the real truth told.

He ran letters to and for,
Royal mail from which he stole,
Standing in the box as accused,
A position which was most abused.

In the late 18th century for,
The working and poorer classes,
Ending up in court could mean,
Transportation or swinging from a beam.

A so called whiteness implicated the,
Young boy but after questioning,
He had been accused previously revealed,
So who was to be believed.

The young boy could not speak,
For himself as he was mute,
For his accuser was so convenient,
The sentence would not be lenient.

A jury made up of gentry,
Not his piers not like today,
Came to a guilty verdict,
An outcome you could predict.

The judge passed a sentence that,
He was to be hanged as,
Poor Thomas Healy just stood confused,
The real culprit looked on amused.

She screamed no from the crowd,
Scrambling to see her son bellowing,
Through the court a mothers cries,
The look of terror in his eyes.

Beyond reasonable doubt there was just,
A conveyor belt of sentencing handed,
Down to the poor and needy,
From the ruling and the greedy.