Ken Clarke asks the question

I don’t often read the Daily Mail and cheer, but today the report that Kenneth Clarke is planning to cut the prison budget by slashing jail sentences was the best news I have heard in a long time. Also welcome was his comment that public fears over crime were overblown, although I am not sure [...]

June 14, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Government policy, Prisons, Sentencing  One Comment

Smoke without fire…

The coalition government has published plans to extend anonymity in rape cases to defendants. This has caused a flurry of criticism and some of it for good reason. My concern about publicising the identities of defendants is that it might make the victim more easily identifiable and jeopardise the likelihood of her coming [...]

May 21, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Government policy, Uncategorized, Victims  No Comments

Naming and shaming, postal strikes and pensions

So poor little Baby Peter’s mother and her partner have their photographs splashed across every media outlet.  The judge who allowed them to be identified said this would somehow increase confidence in the criminal justice system, although I challenge that.  I am at a loss to understand how public prurience serves the cause of justice.  [...]

August 11, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Children and young people, Headline grabbing  No Comments

Crime rates down! Read all about it?

The crime statistics just published are really encouraging and do indicate that we are becoming a safer society.  Of course particularly gratifying is the reduction in the homicide rate.  In the last ten years vehicle crime, domestic burglary and crimes of violence have all gone down substantially.  This means fewer victims and should be the [...]

July 17, 2009  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Headline grabbing  One Comment