I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I actually feel a bit sorry for Dominque Strauss-Kahn. If reports coming in overnight from New York are to be believed, there is serious doubt about the strength of the case against him, amid suspicions that the alleged victim's report is flawed and that she has 'repeatedly lied' during conversations with prosecutors.

If Mr Strauss-Kahn is innocent, his name has been dragged through the mud and his career, both with the International Monetary Fund, and in French politics is ruined, for no good reason. There will always be an element of suspicion surrounding him, those who say 'there's no smoke without fire'.

If he is guilty, the chances are he will not stand trial or, if he does, be found not guilty, because 'law enforcement officials' insist on briefing the media as to the lack of credibility of the alleged victim, together with the fact that she apparently lied about her application for asylum (The implication being that she's obviously a serial liar and not to be trusted.).

Either way, the whole case raises the issue of how rape cases are handled, both here in the UK and in the United States. Of course this is a high profile case, but wouldn't it have been better for the identities of both the alleged victim and the defendant to have been kept out of the media, at least until after the trial - essentially for justice to have been done without trial by media?