Blog:Take Back The Streets
From Bolton Interweb
del.icio.usDai Harder, Crime Correspondent, 18th May 2010
For the last 13 years the Labour record on crime and punishment has been largely lamentable. Parole after a third of the sentence, early releases, victims being charged with criminal offences, sometimes dragged to Court, when defending themselves, and some very sad cases of police inaction in regard to young terrorists that rampage through sink estates leading to tragic deaths. If there is an area in which the new Government can make a difference, it is a major clampdown on violent crime and theft. Are we interested in the human rights or rehabilitation of the criminals? Maybe once, but frankly all most of us now want is the little shits jailed and the key dropped down the nearest drain. Any remaining tolerance has been drained.
Take the case of Paul Gaskell whose attackers left him with a fractured skull after stamping on his head during an assault on an Oldham bus. The ring leader, Michael Aspin, got just 4 years at a Young Offenders Institute. Another attacker, Joshua Stagg, got 12 months. So out in less than 18 months and 4 months respectively. The third gang member got a community order and a curfew and could not be named as he is only 17. For the kind of crime described in the article I would say a minimum 10 year sentence, hard labour, and no luxuries would be an appropriate deterrent. For all of them. Only by going in with severe sentencing, even excessively severe sentencing, is it possible to establish a deterrent effect. In the medium to long term the theory is that the the crime rate and prison population goes down as thugs and thieves realise the price they will have to pay, and whilst there is a short-term additional cost this quickly diminishes. Ultimately the only prisoners are the hard core who are incapable of learning their lessons and just have to be kept segregated from society.
What of the human rights and rehabilitation. Human rights have to be earned and you lose most of them when you commit a violent crime or thieve. Shelter, sustenance, security, and it ends there. Which is a lot more than many law-abiding citizens in poverty who often end up as victims of the thugs and thieves. Rehabilitation comes through hard labour and being taught the connection between hard work and rewards. Prisoners need to be educated and trained to become contributors to society before release.
This new Government has an opportunity to make an early impact on dealing with the things that the last Government failed to address. A Tory-led Government are best qualified to be tough on crime and the Lib Dems on the causes of crime. The Lib Dems can also put to rest the perception that they are weak and soft on crime, which will do them the power of good with the electorate. Seize the day.
© Evrose, 2010
