Looking Back on My Years as A Magistrate.

 The Law delivering Justice has always been of vital importance to me.

I quit the Bench in 2005 when I saw that the system was not delivering and, indeed, was going from bad to worse.

The more minor the offence - the greater the likelihood of there being some element of justice in sentencing. Decisions taken were not that close to being proportionate, even then.

The greater problem is that there is now a total disconnect with more serious crimes and the sentences handed down.

Minor offences - barely proportionate.

Serious offences - rarely even approaching proportionality.

The Lex Talionis in Exodus 21 effectively says that 'the punishment must fit the crime.'

There are those who claim such thinking to be 'wicked'. Why, pray? - Surely, that must be the starting point of all Justice?

Where one is too heavy or one too trivial - Justice cannot be served.

The figure of Justice above the Old Bailey has a statue with scales in hand. SCALES = BALANCE.