Today, I turn anecdotal.
I was in conversation with a magistrate who was nearing retirement, which made him 69 and sadly, he looked at least five years older.
He went to visit a family in Liverpool - whether his own or not, I'm afraid that I cannot say.
He was sitting quietly in a corner and there were two young teenage brothers in the room. Apparently, they had wickedly broken into a house several doors away from their own and he was witness to the entire visit from their probation officer. She completely ignored the JP - just regarding him as some ancient irrelevance in the corner.
He was sitting quietly in a corner and there were two young teenage brothers in the room. Apparently, they had wickedly broken into a house several doors away from their own and he was witness to the entire visit from their probation officer. She completely ignored the JP - just regarding him as some ancient irrelevance in the corner.
She then sat the lads around the table and my informant was granted a fly-on-the-wall ringside seat for what happened next.
The lady simply spent half an hour informing this pair of yobs that 'They must not worry - none of the offending was their fault and that they must not be afraid of the system.'
Remove all fear from wrongdoers? - What an excellent way forward. What a great message to send out to the offending classes!
Hmm. A Singapore-style caning or a cuddlesome chat. I wonder which would be more effective?
Muses.
Evidently, it must be the latter - otherwise our country wouldn't have taken this route - would it?
