But imagine what he'd be suffering if he'd been wrongly convicted.

Huge spreads in the tabloids - "he was always a pervert"; that kind of thing.

Certain publicists earning millions ("I believed them") selling crap stories and lies by dodgy lost souls who don't understand the bad karma their false claims bring down upon their own heads.

When I was released I had breakfast with my old friend Seymour Stein (Sire Records and he discovered Madonna). Paul Macca was in the same restaurant. I warned Seymour that Paul and I had been having a bit of a feud for the past two or three decades (ever since I slagged off Mull Of Kintyre). But as he was leaving Paul came over and spent 10 minutes being incredibly nice and supportive and generous (without touching on my recent troubles). Seymour was astonished. I decided the man is a real gentleman who does not kick a man when he's (technically) down.

He went up a hundred miles in my estimation and Mike's comments after his acquittal ring absolutely true to me.

The tide is turning. The public already know about the massive wealth area of crime called FALSE ALLEGATIONS. Greed, compensation, a desire for sympathy (usually by people who have never had any and blame their drink or drugs problems on someone else), genuine delusion, peer pressure, "Victim Rings"... And the media is catching on too.

Let's make sure we are clear here. Nobody condones genuine abuse. Nobody wishes to detract from the sympathy deserved by genuine victims of abuse. But surely EVERYBODY wants to stop and punish false accusers? At present they can have anonymity and vast sums in compensation cash and media interview fees (don't you love those "contribution to charity" excuses for waiving anonymity?). It's hard to prove them liars, especially after wrongful convictions. Sometimes even those rejected by the police leap on the bandwagon. Very soon, they will be rumbled.

And Mike Macca's acquittal is another step towards that day.