Carter, an inmate who volunteered in the hospice ward of State Correctional Institution Phoenix in Collegeville, Penn., says that his fellow prisoner languished and eventually perished in prison because he was too mentally impaired to file for forgiveness.

“The time is always right to do right,” added Justice Ward, of State Supreme Court in Erie County, paraphrasing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Justice Laura A. Ward of State Supreme Court in Manhattan issued the maximum sentenced permitted under the law, life without parole.

Forget the old caricature of Royal Mail as a ward of state, propped up by hand-outs reluctantly dispatched from the Treasury.

Meanwhile, chief executive Stephen Hester trumpets the "psychological" benefit for the nation and his employees if RBS is no longer routinely described as a ward of state.