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More than 300 lifers out within ten years

By John Hirst

More than 300 lifers out within ten yearsbr /br /More than 300 murderers, rapists and other serious offenders handed life sentences under Labour are already back on the streets.br /br /a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/3850971/More-than-300-lifers-out-within-ten-years.html"A total of 304 of the country's most dangerous criminals, jailed since January 1997, served less than ten years despite being handed the maximum term, the Ministry of Justice has admitted.br /br /It means courts set a minimum tariff of less than ten years for most and the Parole Board, which decides if a lifer if safe to return to the community, released them/a.br /br /"span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"A total of 304 of the country's most dangerous criminals/span". I am not disputing the figure of 304, that is probably accurate. However, what I do dispute is the wrongful assumption by the Telegraph's home affairs editor that the prisoners fit into the "most dangerous" category. Furthermore, I challenge the Telegraph to back up its claim that they are the most dangerous, and that the Ministry of Justice has admitted that the 304 are in fact the most dangerous criminals in the country.br /br /I don't believe that anyone is dangerous. Rather, I believe it is the situation which is dangerous. But even accepting that such a concept as a dangerous criminal is valid, offenders are subjected to risk assessments to see what is the perceived level of risk each offender may pose to the public. Just because someone has committed a serious offence does not automatically mean that they are dangerous.br /br /True, Labour has created this problem with its legislation of automatic life sentences and three strikes and you're out. Whilst it binds the court to pass a life sentence, judges retain the power to impose a tariff which is the sentence they would have passed but for the legislation. For example, an offender caught three times stealing a box of chocolates from Woolworths will get a life sentence. The judge may think that it only warrants a three year prison sentence and imposes a three year tariff within the life sentence. Therefore, it is not even a genuine life sentence but instead a political one imposed to make the government seem tough on crime and criminals. The real sentence is the three years tariff.br /br /What we have here is first the dishonesty of the government followed by second the dishonest reporting in the Telegraph.

Full post as published by prisonlawinsideout on December 20, 2008 (boomark / email).