Punishments must be just
EVEN the probation service is expressing fears about the early release of those who endanger the rest of us, including violent thugs who make threats from their cells and then lose no time in carrying them out.
The problem is not the life sentence prisoner whom the parole board can refuse to release but the man serving a determinate sentence who will be automatically released at the half-way point regardless of his suitability. It is madness but it could with a will be brought to an end. The last Conservative administration introduced in its final year honesty in sentencing whereby the punishment given would be the punishment served, which is not much more than common sense and justice but which was dropped by the incoming Labour government as though it were a hot brick.
The brick of course landed on the public’s toes. Theresa May and Ken Clarke should pick it up again immediately.