Crime and punishment unacceptable

I agree Cynic,

How can you fine someone that has no money, what's the point? Unlike you and I and the remainder of working folk, we have or, are expected to be in pocket. Easy targets.

From an early age I was told that the biggest enemy you will ever have is your own government.

The Police are to busy counting the cash from speed cameras to do real policing. The Judiciary are just as bad, the worse the crime, the lighter the sentence.
You can be jailed for non-payment of council tax.
You can be fined up to £1000 or even jailed for no TV licence.
You can be fined and have your car crushed for no road tax.
Yet, if you commit theft, Burgulary, Mugging, anti-social or violent crimes. and general mayhem, you get community service or a let out on bail to commit further crime. Or better still be commited to an "Open" POrison, where you are free to come and go as you please ( ask residents of Usk in Monmouthshire, their local open prison looses prisoners on a weekly basis)
The Moral being, if the Government looses money by your actions, you get a worse punishment than if your crime does not invole the loss of money to the Government.
The whole Justice(?) system is out of kilter.

BBC News 28 Apr 08

A report has blamed a "lackadaisical approach" in the criminal justice system, after a man freed from jail killed a bus passenger the same day.

Schizophrenic Anthony Joseph, 23, is serving an indefinite term at a mental health unit for the manslaughter of Richard Whelan, 28, on 29 July 2005.

Mr Whelan was stabbed on a bus in north London, when he tried to stop Joseph throwing chips at his girlfriend.

The solicitor general's report blamed a lack of diligence over bail conditions.

Joseph had been arrested by Surrey police and remanded in custody on 10 June on charges, later dropped, that related to an alleged abduction and unlawful sex with a 15-year-old.

After the charges were dropped, Joseph should have been detained because there was an arrest warrant out for him in connection with an alleged burglary.

Merseyside Police, who were investigating the burglary, did not know Joseph had been in custody because a computer system had not been updated.

So instead he was released and killed Mr Whelan six hours later.

It's unacceptable because there are people out there not doing their job. This is why it is all falling around at our feet.

"Mike P you should be locked up for your views alone you are a very sick man.
Irish 26-Apr-2008 11:15 "

What views would that be then?

FACT = Averahe waiting time to see an NHS dentist in prison is 10 days. The same in the community is 4 months

FACT = If you are unwell in a prison you get to see a qualified nurse within 1 hour and a GP within 24 hours. The same in the community is 7-10 days

FACT = Phyiotherapy waiting list in prison is 14 days. Community it's 6 months.

FACT = Average wait for non-urgent casualty visit for prison is 40 minutes. For those walking in from the community it's 3 hours (if you are lucjy)

FACT = There has been a 60% increase in the bill to tax payers to address the health of prisoners, whilst people are still dying or becoming terminal whilst waiting to see a hospital specialist once diagnosed with cancer.

Who says crime doesn't pay

Punishment certainly does not fit the crime these days; it appears that if you deal drugs, commit theft, acts of violence or public mayhem, you are sent to an Open Prison like Usk in Monmouthshire, where you are able to walk out at will. Get committed for acts of terrorism, and you have your rediculously low sentance automatically reduced before it is served.
BUT! If you are a normally law abiding citizen and fail to pay your TV Licence, Car Tax, Council Tax on time, or get caught speeding and the penalties are far greater.
Where is the Justice we were once supposed to lead the world with??

They should stop sending people to Jail for not being able to afford paying their Council taxes, so that it would free up "Holiday camp" places for the real criminals, "Holiday camp" being the operative word, we should make these places more like the US prisons where if you are caught offending for a third time you are handed a 30 year jail term whether it is for something petty or not, that would make these Criminals think twice before re-offending. Also in the US you are locked up 23 hours of the day and allowed one hour recreation, that's the way it should be here in the UK.

As for the Death Penalty yes I am agreed to that as it's us Taxpayers as usual who have to fork out for their SKY TV and their Playstations but as per Usual I am sure the Human Rights brigade in Brussels would have something to say about that.

You can steal a car, drive at high speed through urban environment, injure people and cause damage to property, gather a posse of police on your tail and a chopper in the air all to be given a four month suspended sentence at the end of it. What's that all about!?

It used to be said that one of the deterrents of a prison sentence was a permenant record that stayed with you for life and could result in you being declined for jobs, etc. later in life.

Well so bloody what? Criminals seem to see their 'rap' sheet as a badge of honour and it wouldn't surprise me if there was a new playground game of 'Who's got the most ASBO's' replacing 'Top Trumps' for those too young to go to jail.

As for being declined jobs in the future......they've never had one in the first place so what difference does that make? Our benefits system will see them safely sat at home watching Sky TV on their flatscreen TV's in their fully paid for council house with their flash car parked on the drive.

Something really needs to be done about the current penal system in this country as it is failing abysmally. Just take a look at the current flood of reality police shows on TV to realise just how ridiculous some of the sentences handed down to so called 'car criminals' are.

It seems to be that if you start off with no job and no prospects then prison is just a holiday, there's absolutley no deterrent involved.

I would definitely like to see the death penalty reintroduced for some of the horrendous multiple murders and the gratuitous violence which blights society.

I see no point in leaving multiple murderers, drug dealers, and sick violent rapists languishing in jail at the expense of the taxpayers, eventually to be let out as embittered and useless members of a society they are not fit to live in. Death penalty. Not as a punishment, simply to permanently remove them from society.

Thieves and conmen should be made to pay back what they have stolen from others wherever possible. Chopping off hands appears to work in the Middle East as a deterrent. Brutal - yes, inhumane - probably. Effective -very.

Criminals currently laugh at the judicial and penal systems in most western countries. Very few would find much to laugh about in the above.

In South Africa even some members of the clergy have said that bringing back the death penalty might be a solution to high crime rates there.

I work in prisons and know a fair majority of prisoners see it as a comforting break from their family life. Life inside is very cushy. It's more like a social club. I would support hard labour in the form of the "chain gangs." Prison is definately no deterent at all for breaking the law. The current and recent governments are far too weak and nambie pambie - WE NEED SOMEONE LIKE MARGARET THATCHER IN CHARGE. She was fantastic!

Scaramouche, may I suggest you contact the Pyschiatric Ward of your local hospital.