‘Pay by Results’ Will Cut Re-offending? Don’t Make Me Laugh!

I swear, sometimes I hang my head in shame at some of the stupid ideas politicians come up with. According to a report out last week, they want to release prisoners early and support them by giving them housing, employment and financial assistance in a scheme called ‘Pay by Results’. According to the ‘experts’ this would decrease re-offending by a ‘massive’ (their words) 2.6%.

Chris Grayling

Wow! 2.6%, now that is a real eye opener! So what they are telling us is that for every 100 prisoners released from jail early, two would not re-offend because they have been given somewhere to live, a job, and cash. I am sure there will be a friendly social worker there to tuck them up in bed too!

The news was given out at a lecture by the ‘think-tank’ Civitas, and at the meeting Justice Secretary Chris Grayling is quoted as saying, “Britain’s problem is less about offending and more about re-offending”. Well that is one thing he got right. A pity he does not realize why criminals re-offend so easily.  The statistics for the past thirty years clearly show that  most short prison term criminals re-offend, sometimes within days of release. The following graphic shows the figures for Scotland which are also representative of the whole UK.

3% Re-Offending Rate For 2 To 4 Years Or More – 11% For Those Serving Between 6 To 24 Months – 50% Rate For Those Serving Less Than 3 Months. There Has To Be A Lesson Here!

Because our prisons are at capacity, according to the do-gooders, the justice system has for many years been loath to add to the prison population, and more often than not law breakers get either a ‘slap on the wrist’ or lily-livered community service, which all criminals consider a joke. Mr. Grayling said at the lecture: “If you are serving time in prison, on average you will have committed an astonishing 41 previous offences.” The mind boggles! 41 prior offences before they are locked up – it’s ridiculous! And that is only the offences they are actually arrested for.

The oft quoted argument that Britain’s prisons are overcrowded makes me wonder why the Justice Ministry announced last January that they are to close seven prisons (within months) and reduce capacity at two more with a loss of 2,600 places! There are plans to build new ones and add to existing prisons but surely it would be better to have the new places ready first rather than the other way around. I can understand the necessity of such a move as our old Victorian prisons cost a fortune in upkeep, but it is wise to remember that with current trends the prison population is set to continue growing.

Re-Offending Rates Versus Sentence

The statistics have long proven that the only way to stop prisoners from re-offending is a hefty prison sentence. Very few prisoners who have been locked up for more than two years actually re-offend, but the number who do after only a few weeks or months in prison is staggering. Now they think that ‘nanny’ tactics will sort out the vicious Neanderthal youth we have on the streets today. Think again Mr. Grayling! build more prisons, get rid of the TV’s and games, let them do hard labour, and make a prison sentence something to be feared once again. Then you will see a drop in re-offending!

Roy.

More Evidence Of Failing British Justice!

If anyone has doubts that the justice system in Britain is in total meltdown, figures released today should dispel them completely.

Petty Crime? It Isn’t If It’s Your Car!

It doesn’t happen in Germany, Denmark, France, Spain, or any other country you care to mention, so why do we the British, let habitual criminals off with a ‘slap on the wrist’ when in any other country they would be ‘banged up’ for a very long time.

This government, just like all the others that would be ‘tough on crime’ have turned our justice system into an international joke. All we hear from idiots like Ken Clark is; “It costs too much to put towrags in prison”. Well! Tough Ken!

Living On A Different Planet To The Rest Of Us

He and his cronies are always blubbering on about ‘reducing the re-offending rate’, but I have news for you Ken; IT AIN’T WORKING! A report out today lays it all on the line so that even a dimwit politician can understand.

Give Him A Slap On The Wrist?

Nearly two thirds of habitual criminals are avoiding a jail sentence despite having more than 15 previous convictions. Instead they are let off with a warning, given community service or a fine! These are all hardened thieves, violent muggers and drug dealers, and after a quick court appearance its business as usual.

The report cites a total of 96,710 criminals sentenced last year of which 8,200 were given a suspended sentence and were immediately back on the street, approximately 15,000 were fined, and 20,000 were handed community service orders. Just 34,600 were given time behind bars for their crimes while the rest were given a caution.

See You Again Next Week?

Our illustrious Justice Minister, Ken Clark, has already stated that he plans to release some 3,000 prisoners early to reduce overcrowding and save money, plus, according to news reports, he has told senior judges to reduce the numbers given custodial sentences, preferring community service orders to reduce re-offending.

Teens View Of Prison:

How can a qualified lawyer and Justice Minister be so out of touch with the real world! It beggars belief!

Currently, three quarters of all criminals caught return to crime in less than nine years, and very many after a few short weeks. And why not? They get all the benefits of a life of crime and if caught get a slap on the wrist or a laughable community service order, so where is the incentive to ‘go straight’!

Time In A Real Prison Would Set Them Straight

Time and again I have said the only thing young thugs and criminals understand these days is a prison system that puts the fear of God into them. Unfortunately Ken doesn’t read my blog! (sigh!)

Just when you think maybe, we have a government that will actually tackle head-on the ever growing crime on our streets and finally sort out these towrags once and for all, they turn out to be just as bad as the previous lot.

Starting Young!

When will we have a politician with balls enough to take away all the luxuries that prisoners enjoy at tax payers expense, and turn our prison system into what it should be, a deterrent. To be honest, I don’t think I will see it in my lifetime.

Roy.

Death Penalty Outlawed – and Now Look At the Mess!

Killers Nightmare

As I read the comments of people writing about newspapers articles involving crime recently, it would seem there is an overwhelming desire among the general public to see hanging back in Britain. High profile crimes over the past decade or more, linked with the ever decreasing sentences, appear to have sparked the idea in people’s minds that the death sentence may be the only way to stop the spiralling serious crime rate.

Violent Crime

While 58 nations world-wide still have the death penalty, Britain abolished it in 1969, the last execution taking place in 1964. Human Rights activists labelled the death penalty as “cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment” while Amnesty International considers it to be “the ultimate denial of human rights”. To me, it seems these people do not have a thought in their collective heads for the victims of violent crime, and the savagery meted out by today’s young criminals. Maybe they consider the lives snuffed out by murder and torture to be insignificant. I doubt the relatives of the victims would agree.

There is little doubt in the opinion of many that although Labour has repeatedly promised to be “Tough on Crime” before every election, there has been nothing to show for these empty promises. The rate of serious crime has risen sharply year on year, despite what the official ‘massaged’ figures from government show.

Just Two Years Old

Every day sees a new horror story in the Press of someone who has been brutally murdered, more often than not by children as young as nine. We have only to remember John Venebles and Robert Thompson who led away, tortured, and then savagely murdered little 2 year-old James Bulger. Another case in point is the terrifying ordeal of two youngsters in Edlington who were sadistically tortured and left for dead by two brothers aged ten and eleven.

But it is not only children that form a major threat to law-abiding citizens, there are also career criminals like Waleed Salem who got off scot-free from a charge of aggravated burglary on the home of Munir Hussain. He had 50 previous convictions but had only ever spent a total of 42 days in jail for all of them. In most cases all he got was a community service sentence. After his run in with Munier Hussain he openly boasted outside the court that the law couldn’t touch him, and the sad thing is, he turned out to be right.

Overcrowding?

Because of the overcrowding in prisons, many often violent criminals are released early after serving only a small fraction of their sentence. In a large number of cases, these people go on to re-offend within weeks of release, and sometimes it involves murder. Once again the case of Venebles and Thompson comes to mind with them being released and given new identities after serving only five years for their horrendous crime. As we all now know, Venebles is back ‘inside’.

The ‘Barmy Brigade’ felt they should be released early “because they were only children” and “came from dysfunctional homes”, as if that excused their vicious crime! It is an inexcusable fact that in lower class homes in particular, although not exclusively, parents today have little or no control over their offspring. In fact, I would dare say there is little interest in bringing up children correctly. Judicial punishment for dysfunctional parents is long overdue in my opinion.

Many parents today seem to think it is the schools responsibility to give their children the necessary lessons in good behaviour, so without the required guidance, is it any wonder we have a generation of tearaways and thugs!

Home From Home

With ever shorter sentences and prisons like 5 star hotels, we are in a period where the average criminal has absolutely no fear of Justice? More often than not, even vicious felons get Community Service for a few weeks and are left in the public domain to continue their nefarious trade. It has been proven time and again that this system does not work because the criminal just ignores the whole thing, and usually no-one can be bothered to check up on them, and they know it. So really it is nothing but a gigantic farce.

All this is put in place because the prisons are full, but are we building new prisons? No! Plans have come and gone, but none have been built. You cannot possibly turn hardened criminals from their chosen way of life unless the punishment is so severe they will not dare re-offend. At the moment its quite the reverse in fact.

The “Do Gooders’ and ‘limp-wristed’ Liberals are so set on making prison life as easy as possible with the intention of “giving the criminal a sense of morality and easing them back into society”. Its pretty obvious they have never been attacked or robbed! Prisoners are released on licence for days at a time during their sentence to allow them to ‘get used to being around people again’. There have been cases where criminals have ‘settled old scores’ on such breaks, meaning someone got killed.

The first job of any new government is to get these ‘Goody Goody’ idiots back out on the street where they can do no more harm, and put an end to all this pussy footing around.

There is a good case for bringing back the death penalty in whatever form, for only then will it be driven home to these lowlifes that the public will not stand for it any more. Kill and you will be killed.

There are of course many who stop short of actual murder but commit vicious crimes nevertheless. For these there should be a regime of hard labour awaiting them once convicted. It is time to end the period of criminals lounging around watching TV, using their computers or playing pool. It is time to stop taking young killers out for a day to Manchester or Blackpool, or to the cinema. It is time for more serious sentencing, because I see little point in a Judge sentencing a killer to 20 years with ‘a minimum of eight to be served’. If you give someone 20 years it should BE 20 years end of story, but Oh Damn! We can’t do that because the prisons are full and Amnesty Int. says every prisoner is entitled to his own cell with all the comforts of home! Atishooo! Sorry I’m allergic to bullshit!

Unless we bring back the death sentence for murder, torture and terrorism, start making prison a thing to be feared, and hand down sentences that fit the crime, we as a society are lost, for the crime rate will continue to spiral out of all control. After all, Britain has certainly the highest crime rate in Europe, and is probably only second in the world to the USA. Crime has not escalated to epidemic proportions in most other countries because they are not run by sleazy governments that are soft on crime, and have not handed responsibility for the running of prisons over to idiots. It is way past time that we returned to the strict regime of the 1940’s and 50’s.

Bringing back the death penalty will not only make killers think twice before committing murder, but it should also help to solve the prison overcrowding problem. Mind you, we may end up with a cemetery overcrowding problem then.

Ah Well! I guess you can’t have everything!

Roy.