As a former Magistrate and Chairman and also member of the old Sheffield Probation Liaison Committee, I am horrified at Ken Clarke and the tory betrayal of the already under-protected people of this country. (UKIP had warned us, of course!)"Fewer criminals to go to prison" shrieks the headline.
This is a disaster. There is precious little alternative to be found in so-called community punishments. Our over-stretched - nay, swamped - Probation Service simply cannot offer sufficient attention to the individuals they are supervising now. Meetings with offenders just once a fortnight or less is an exercise in futility.
I spoke to one senior probation officer several years ago who confided to me that more than 50% of work orders are breached and from my own visits, I was never fully satisfied that these were all sufficiently rigorous in any case.
There is only one way that Mr Clarke's money-saving scheme could be implemented - and work - but sadly, it would inevitably backfire as courage to see it through would fail.
ALL wanton breaches must result in immediate custody. You can easily spend an entire morning in a court dedicated to breaches and not see a single waster sent down!
Magistrate guidelines are already designed to prevent custody.
In those countries where alternatives are used successfully, there is an element of both fear and certainty in the offender that breaches will not be tolerated.
Consequently, with a proper system, Mr Clarke would be horrified to see prisoner numbers shoot up initially but in the longer term, it is the only way community punishments will or can work. The big rise in prison numbers would only be temporary.
Always remember that community punishments without teeth will only ever work with that minority who genuinely want to change and rebuild their lives. As for the rest ...
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