There is a perception that the state is soft on crime and that the ECHR has curtailed the ability of British Courts to administer justice, this is a complex issue worthy of a Ph.D dissertation to address properly, safe to say, there are elements of truth, exageration and falsehood witin the subject, depending who you speak to or matters are reported by.

The H.M Prisons have been cronically underfunded for many decades, governments blame each other when their is some sort of crisis, but they are all to blame. The public, generally, do not care, the views are that if you break the law you should be punished is widely held, and not incorrect, however, even here, it is far more complex and nuanced that many realise or are even willing to accept.

IF A SOCIETY IS TO JUDGE ITS PEOPLE, IT MUST DO SO WITH INTEGRITY, HONESTY, FAIRNESS, HUMANITY AND HUMILITY.

If it cannot or will not do that then it has no place to Judge and has no credible justice system, in fact, one can reasonably argue that it fails to understand justice.

However, the world has moved on in the last few decades, the average cost of a prisoner in England and Wales is a little over £77,000 per year, and increasing. Inmcarceration should be the last resort, not the first resort of a civilised society. This does not mean we should be easy on those who ignore societies laws and rules, but at the same time, we need to be intelligent and use technology to reduce costs and improve society as a whole.

Community Sentences and Curfews

For minor, non-violent, non-serious drug and similar offences, we should utilise the technology of trackers that can ring fence a person to a location, restrict the hours they can leave their home, but allow them to work, thus providing for their family and not being a drain on the state, but they can also have community punishments, such drainage ditch clearing, street sweeping, cleaning graphity, clearing rivers, canals and beaches of rubbish. These are problems that costs councils a lot of money, by allocating community sanctioned offenders to undertake these tasks we save public funds and provide community improving punishments to those who break the law. If there are costs involved, those who are working can have their tax code altered to recoup the costs via their taxable pay. A further change we will make is training – those given community sentences will be eligable for training programs to ensure they can get employment if they are unemployed or there crime means their career path is no longer viable for them. These will be practical cources, not the type given out by the DWP to the unemployed that are just revenue generating for less than credible trainers, but real courses, real education for those with education gaps or learning difficulties, these courses would be encouraged to be supported by employers, so bus drivers, HGV drivers, electricians, plumbers etc etc. Real courses with real job prospects at the end. Many minor criminals have education difficulties or lack skills to get them past interviews, this would be addressed. Of cource, not all offenders would make use of such resources and turn their life around, but a significant proportion will and thus not be a future burden on the criminal justice system.

We would make the following mandatory in Law.

1. All persons who are charged with a crime will be interviewed by a BPA licenced psychologist to determine their state of mind, to highlight any learning difficulties, mental health issues and to allow the state to determine if the Criminal Justice system is the right path for the specific offender. This is not to be weak on crime, this is about idetifying those who have genuine mental health problems, learning difficulties or other mental health related problems that cannot be solved by the CJS. For too long the Police and CJS have been defacto mental health practisioners because society spends so little on addressing mental health issues. We will create alternative pathways to deal with offenders who, do not present a danger to the public or themselves, and can be dealt with in ways that benefit the offender and society. It would also allow the CJS to identify real repeat offenders who simply do not care that their behaviour is anti-social or simply unacceptable, meaning that more appropriate sentences can be be given out.

2. Following the charging process, before the court process has begun, the Prosecutor must sit down with the defence counsel and offender(s) to see if a deal can be made to create a faster pathway to a solution, to free up Courts to deal with other matters, we would, with advice from the Law Society, Judges both legal and psychology academics to develop a system that would work for the betterment of society, save public funds from court proceedings and even prevent the trauma faced by witnesses having to give evidence. Many thousands of hours of Police Officer time is given up to court cases, if cases can be resolved without the need for court time, this is a win-win for society.

3. Following sentencing, all convicted persons will be interviewed for 1 hour by a psychologist to understand their responce to the sentence, especially in incarceration is the result to identify any risk the offender may pose to themselves, the community, prison officers, fellow inmates and their overall view of the sentence. Such reports should then be filed with the defence counsel, prosecutor and either the nprobation service or the Prison where the offender shall be housed. These reports can then be used to assess what extra measures the authorities may need to take to ensure the safety of the offender, the public, probation/prison staff and other inmates.

Incarceration – (Prison)

This would be a last resort, the minimum sentence for incarceration would be 5 years and would be used where there is a clear and present danger to the public, a group, or an individual. This would include.

1. Violence against the person.
   1. Homicide Offences
      1. Planning – 20yrs – Whole Life Tariff – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
      2. Soliciting – 20yrs – Whole Life Tariff – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
      3. Assisting – 20yrs – Whole Life Tariff – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
      4. Murder – Whole Life Tarrif
      5. Attempted Murder – 15yrs to Whole Life Tariff – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
2. Sex offences
   1. Rape
      1. Single Offence – 5 – 15 years
      2. Multiple offences – Whole Life Tariff – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
   2. Paedophilia
      1. Making images of children for sexual gratification – 15yrs to Whole Life Tariff
      2. Sexual abuse of a minor (under the age of 16yrs at time of offence) –  Whole life Tarrif
3. Terrorism.
   1. Planning – 5yrs – Whole Life Tariff – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
   2. Funding – 20yrs to Whole Life Tariff – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
   3. Assisting – 20yrs to Whole Life Tariff – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
   4. Advocating – 5yrs to Whole Life Tariff – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
   5. Undertaking Terrorist acts – Whole Life Tariff
   6. Human Traffiking
      1. Planning – 10 yrs to Whole Life Tariff- release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
      2. Funding – 20yrs to Whole Life Tariff- release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
      3. Assisting – 20yrs to Whole Life Tariff – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
      4. Advocating – 10yrs – 25 yrs – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
4. Insurrection – 5yrs to Whole Life Tariff (To include violent riots where more than 10 people are involved) – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
5. Any offence involving a firearm or bladed weapon not covered by 1, 2 or 3.  – 10yrs to Whole Life Tariff. – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
6. Espionage / Spying – 5yrs to Whole Life Tariff.
   1. Industrial Espionage that does not compromise National Security – 5yrs – 15yrs – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
   2. Industrial Espionage that does compromise National Security – 15yrs – 50yrs -release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
   3. Espionage within any government department not linked to the Military or security services – 5yrs to 15 yrs -release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
   4. Espionage linked to the military or security services – 30yrs to Whole Life Tariff (The later applies, immediately, if this is undertaken during times of conflict or lives are lost as a result) release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
7. Driving Offences
   1. Causing Death by Dangerous Driving – 10yrs to Whole Life Tariff – lifetime ban from driving if released. – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
   2. Driving under the influence of Alcohol / Illegal Drugs
      1. 1st Offence – 5 years probation – banned from driving for 5 years.  – Type of employment not a mitigation.
      2. 2nd Offence – 5 years imprisonment – lifetime ban from driving.
      3. Driving after being banned under 1 & 2 above – 5 years imprisonment: release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)
   3. Driving illegally and evading Police
      1. Automatic “Driving negligently in a manner that endangers public safety” – 5 years imprisonment – lifetime ban from driving. 1 additional year for every 15 minutes of evading Police. Sentence extended to 10 years incarceration in the event of a collision with a non-Police vehicle or if a Police vehicle is deliberatly rammed. Addional 1 year for No Insurance, No MOT and No licence.
      2. “Driving negligently in a manner that endangers public safety” –
         1. First Offence – 5 years Probation, banned from driving for 2 years, mandatory redo of Driving test at end of ban.
         2. Second Offence  – 10 years Probation – banned from driving for 10 years. Must resit driving test.
         3. Third offence – 5 years incarceration – Banned from driving for life.
         4. Offence commited during the commission of additional criminal offences – automatic 5 years incarceration and 10 year driving ban in ADDITION to sentence for other offences.
   4. Speeding Offences (Unless more serious offences apply)
      1. Driving in excess of posted limit but less than 10mph above limit – 7 day driving ban, car clamped at home address. £250 fine.
      2. Driving in excess of posted limit but less than 15 mph above limit – 14 day driving ban, car clamped at home address. £250 fine
      3. Driving in excess of posted limit but less than 20mph above limit – 21 day driving ban, car clamped at home address. £500 fine
      4. Driving greater than 20mph above limit – 180 day driving ban, car seized, sold at auction or crushed if value less than £1000. Note: Company owned vehicles will be seized but the company can reclaim after paying £2500 storage fee within 21 days.
      5. Causing an accident by excess speed  – 2 year ban – 2 year probation – vehicle siezed and disposed of – either by public auction or crushed.
   5. Other driving Offences
      1. Fleeing the scene of an accident (not involving a pedestrian, cyclist or scooter, motorbike, carriage or similar) – 5 year ban from driving – 5 years probation.
      2. Fleeing the scene of an accident (involving a pedestrian, cyclist or scooter, motorbike, carriage or similar) – 10 year ban from driving – 10 year probation.
      3. Driving without a Licence
         1. 1st Offence – Ban for 5 years – 5 years probation.
         2. 2nd Offence – Ban from driving for life. 10 years probation
         3. Further offences – 5 years incarceration followed by 15 years probation.
      4. Driving without valid Insurance
         1. 1st Offence – Ban for 5 years – 5 years probation.
         2. 2nd Offence – Ban from driving for life. 10 years probation
         3. Further offences – 5 years incarceration followed by 15 years probation.
8. Drug Offences
   1. Firstly, we would change the law to de-criminalise Cannabis that has a THC content below 6%, it would become legal to sell and even cultivate. The Police have, for too long, been tasked with a fools errand in chasing this. Such growers and sellers would be very strictly licenced, no person with previous drugs convictions would be allowed to obtain a growers or sellers licence, and any person who was charged with distribution or importantion would be allowed to be involved with any such operation. All employees for such operations would need to obtain a CRB background check to confirm that no such convictions appear in their record or they have convictions for sex offences, terrorism or murder. This will need advice from medical professionals and others to ensure the law was written in a water tight way and ensure safety for the public at large.
   2. Possession of Cannabis with a THC average content over 8% – 5 years imprisonment + 5 years probabion on release.
   3. Distribution of Illegal Cannabis (up to 25kg) – 10 years plus 5 years probabtion on release
   4. Distribution of Illegal Cannabis (over 25kg) – 20 years plus life probabtion on release
   5. Importation, Distribution or manufacture of Cocaine, Opium derivitives or Meth amphetimine (Schedule 1 Drugs), (anything over 5 gramms) 20yrs to Whole Life Tariff – release only with GPS tracker and supervision by probation (period determined by Judge at sentence)

The above is taste of what we believe should be laid down and enacted. Many offenders have mental health issues, prison and the legal system is not the best place for them, the CJS and Police have been aware of this isue for decades, but without Government support and a willingness to address these issue, nothing will change. Prison is not a solution for many, it should be used as the “last resort” where offenders present a very real danger to society by their behaviour and actions, whilst many will claim this is being weak on crime, would counter it is the opposite. Using the Police and the CJS to manage those who can be more efficviently and effectively dealt with by other avenues will free up Police resources and the Courts to deal with far more serious matters and, we envisage, make the lives of offenders and thus society, richer and better for the correct intervention.
Remember, there was a timer in this country where the state would hang you for attempted murder if you attempted suicide – how ridiculous, and it was within living memory where people were imprisoned for being homosexual. These two extremes demonstrate that the laws and the criminal justice system must constantly evolve to mirror the needs of society, and all offenders are members of our society, they have basic human rights as well as everyone else. They are responsible for their behaviour, but if there are reasons, not excuses, why they have committed a crime, then it is incumbant on society to determine all the factors that led to that offending and look to correct that behaviour – incarceration, in the majority of cases, is not the answer – if, after people have been so helped they choose to continue to offend, well then they leave society no choice but to defend itself by using the ultimate punishment of incarceration.