Sadly, for those who make a habit of blogging on this issue, it's even shorter when you know he
isn't going to serve anything like that anyway...
On the killer, who cannot be named because of a court order, he said: ‘It was amazing to learn how many offences he had committed before this – violent offences, robberies. He broke his curfew so many times and nothing was done.’
Oh, how I wish it was 'amazing'. Sadly it's not. It's routine.
Mr Grisales’s killer was a member of the Northumberland Park Killers. The Old Bailey heard that the teenage gangster has convictions dating back to the age of 12 for robbery and violence but on each occasion he escaped with a community punishment.
On July 28, 2011, he was ordered to wear an electronic tag, given a curfew and sentenced to a 12-month youth rehabilitation order for burgling a house.
According to police, he broke his curfew conditions more than 20 times, although Enfield Council, which was supposed to be monitoring him, says there were only three violations.
The council said that because the breach fell on a Bank Holiday, there was insufficient time to bring him before the courts before the murder on August 31.
And if they had done, the 'punishment' would have been the same as the last 19 (or 2) times, wouldn't it?
The chief inspector of probation, Liz Calderbank, said the rules ‘fall far short of what people have a right to expect’.
She added: ‘In our view you do not change the behaviour of those who offend by giving them the impression that they are subject to stringent requirements only for them to find out they are not. If you are trying to change people’s behaviour you need to be setting clear and simple boundaries.’
Well, yes. But who's listening?
The report, published today, will raise major concerns about Justice Secretary Ken Clarke’s plans for a huge expansion of the number of tagged offenders. Probation officers predict the number could rise from 80,000 last year to 180,000.
But I suspect, in spite of those 'major concerns', the plans will go ahead regardless.
6 comments:
Detectives believe up to three young black males, possibly in their late teens or early 20s, attacked Steven.
Said the police in September 2011.
After the arrest the colour of the assailants attacking an Argentinian who would have looked either white or Asian, was not mentioned again for fear of 'identifying' them.
As one commenter said, if it had been three white assailants and the victim black, the Lawrences would have been in there yelling "raaaaycism".
The police did a slick job of catching the culprits. What a pity the courts don't take their work seriously. It must drive the police potty to repeatedly catch the young offender, only to have him running about and continuing to threaten property and persons, until some poor soul pays the price for challenging a bunch of thugs.
No wonder they sometimes come to the conclusion that it is more rewarding to get involved in tracking down a woman ranting on a train.
Had the mudering little bastard been punished properly for his previous offences, the chances are Steven Grisedales would still be alive. The gap between offence, trial and punishment must be reduced, the little bastards think that going to prison or punishment is due to going to court and not committing a crime.
Bunny
I heard Liz Calderbank on Radio 2 News this morning and despite her words, she came across as being yet another "wet nelly" chanting the party line..
What we desperately need is someone with the backbone & common dog to take the entire criminal justice system by the throat and choke it into doing its job properly ..
I won't be holding my breath whilst fools like Ken Clarke have access to the levers of power ..
WOAR .. I think you're probably very close to the truth there ..
Though I don't think that police necessarily find some jobs "more rewarding" .. but it would seem that they might perceive some to be a lot less hassle and with less scope for the inevitable public complaints & back-stabbing from their bosses ..
" What a pity the courts don't take their work seriously. It must drive the police potty to repeatedly catch the young offender..."
I saw the doorstep (courtstep?) interview with the cop involved as they left court on ITV news, and to say he looked like he was spitting blood is an understatement.
No polite, bland statement about the justice system and 'proportionality' from him!
"Had the mudering little bastard been punished properly for his previous offences, the chances are Steven Grisedales would still be alive. "
We'll never know, but hey! Let's try it! What have we got to lose?
"What we desperately need is someone with the backbone & common dog to take the entire criminal justice system by the throat and choke it into doing its job properly .."
That someone isn't either Teresa May or Ken Clarke.
XX But I suspect, in spite of those 'major concerns', the plans will go ahead regardless. XX
Of course, otherwise the politicians would have to give all that money slipped under the table of a back street pub, in brown envelopes, back to the tagging company.
Just found that interview. The policeman speaks at the end.
http://www.itv.com/news/london/update/2012-06-13/boy-jailed-over-conker-murder/
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