12 month orders would turn into a trivial handful of required visits. Was this really what the sentencing magistrates had had in mind when giving a probation order 'to carefully monitor' an offender? (With or without split infinitives!)
If any miscreant ever claimed to 'have been abused as a child' - one of those 'ace-up-the-sleeve' phrases - they were automatically believed.
In one meeting when the topic of abuse arose, I asked what percentage did they figure were telling the truth?
A shocked silence ensued and it was clear that - if the claim was ever made - it automatically became the equivalent of holy writ.
This was a point well known by the many defence solicitors who 'over defended' their guilty clients. They were not about getting a fair and reasonable disposal. That was far from being their raison d'être.
Add to all this the fact that the CPS seldom prosecutes rigorously and the government sends down missives and directives which increasingly liberalise an already uber liberal system (with rare and occasional backtrackings) and you begin to have a strong sense that there exists something of a conspiracy against the honest and decent people in society!
The only point I can make in favour of the POs was that their workloads were incredibly high.
