”...jails which make bad people worse...”

The tragic story of Fiona Pilkington and her disabled daughter, Francecca, demonstrates how taunts and threats can cut just as deeply as blades.

Actually, that’s not what it illustrates at all…

The prime minister railed against the tragedy, after Alan Johnson had wheeled out New Labour's traditional weapon, the antisocial behaviour order, and announced that whenever an asbo was breached in the future a prosecution would follow.

He can announce what he likes – the magistrates will baulk, because we haven’t got the prison space, and besides, Johnson is unlikely to be Home Sec after the next election…

Long before details of the Pilkington case emerged, Mr Johnson had made antisocial behaviour a priority – rightly so. Fear of low-level thuggery is not some Whitehall confection, but a reality that makes hard lives even harder. It does most damage in the country's most deprived corners, where it blights people who often struggle to make themselves heard. It is also true that the criminal law is a poor instrument for tackling sub-criminal bullying, especially when – as in the Pilkington case – police forces lazily presume that they have bigger fish to fry.

And why do they think that?

Could it be because the people who write for, and read, the ‘Guardian’ have wailed and rent their garments whenever punishment is suggested, and so chiefs with an eye to advancement have adopted the path of least resistance?

Resolve, however, is not the same thing as producing an intelligent plan, and this the government has abjectly failed to do. Despite Tony Blair's great enthusiasm, asbos eventually fell out of favour for solid, practical reasons. Many of those served with them simply ignored them, with nearly half the total being breached; for others, including some whose original misdemeanour was not all that serious, asbos served as a trap door to the jam-packed jails which make bad people worse.

How, exactly, would jail have made the thugs that drove Ms Pilkington to her death ‘worse’..?

Whitehall's own research showed that asbos were costly, which is one reason why new instruments were developed – such as parenting orders and acceptable behaviour contracts – which aimed to nip bad behaviour in the bud.

And have they worked?

We aren’t told. No doubt they need more time. Or more resources.

This is magical thinking.

…as rhetoric and new legislation encourage the issue of extra asbos, the scarce cash available will surely be swallowed up by costly flexing of the authorities' muscles. As with crime, so too with antisocial behaviour. The need to look tough will scupper the chance to get tough on the causes.

There’s no point in attempting to get tough until there are actual, real consequences for failure. Both for the thugs, and the people tasked with dealing with the thugs.

And we can see there are none:

Leicestershire Police and the two local councils say no staff have been disciplined in the two years since the deaths and no action is pending.