Home secretary John Reid was reported to having told magistrates and judges to only jail the most dangerous and persistent criminals’. The prime minister also defends the home secretary decision saying that he is only reminding them of the sentencing policy’.
So why has the sentencing policy been ignored by our judges and magistrates?
At the current time there are 80,000 prisons occupying our prisons… The prime minister said that another 2,000 prison places will be made by the end of the year and then another 8,000 will follow. So is this not contradicting?
Currently we are again running operation safe guard’, this is when police cells are being used to detain prisoners. Norwich jail has also re opened a wing which was last week declared unfit to house prisoners .
It is obvious that the sentencing policy is no longer working and that our prison system is in a terrible state. This surely must now be effecting the prisoners human rights and the protection of society.
Our government must take some of the blame for the current situation, new legislation , tougher sentencing policy, new law, directives to Judges ect , must have all have had an impact on our current prison crisis.
John Reid was also reported to have said courts should not be wasting tax payers money, housing criminals costs a lot of money’. This money could be going to better use, helping the elderly, our health service, education ect . Instead though the government are going to be making new places for criminals, they are looking into prison boats and army camps also to house prisoners .
So is society’s protection being jeopardized …? We are being told that less people should be being sent to prison , and then in the next breath we are being told that this is a temporary situation and that more prison places will be creates. Our MP seem to just be contradicting themselves. It is agreed by all though that our current system of dealing with offenders is no longer working and something else should be tried.
I personally feel that we have been sending too many young people, and criminals who have committed petty crimes to prison. There are others ways in which we could be punishing these less serious offended who are taking up prison place, which in turn is leaving more serious offenders roaming our streets and committing more crimes.