Bit of a Skoosh
Yesterday two 'dodgy gezeers' were freed from prison - after serving only a quarter of their sentences.
The men in question were former Tory peers - Lords Taylor and Hanningfield - jailed for fiddling their expenses just like four former Labour MPs from the House of Commons.
Now I'm not one of those tearing their hair out because the two noble lords served only a small part of their relatively short sentences - because I believe that short prison sentences don't work and - in any event - are a terrible waste of money.
Instead of providing such criminals with a free roof over their heads and three square meals a day - I'd have them serving their sentences in the community - doing supervised public works in reparation and restitution for their crimes.
Lords Taylor and Hanningfield - and their fellow Labour MPs - are not a danger to anyone - their real punishment is the public humiliation of being found guilty in court - and the long lasting damage to their reputations.
Locking them up doesn't really achieve anything - and a community based sentence would still deprive them of their liberty - until their sentence has been served.
Prison should be reserved for serious criminals - who should be put away for a long time - and repeat offenders who are clearly embarked on a life crime.
At the moment prison for repeat offenders is just a revolving door - they serve short sentences and come out again - only to cause chaos in their local communities.
A better solution would be to keep such repeat offenders off the streets for longer periods - and while they are in prision - the authorities should insist that they deal with their underlying problems.
Which might be that they can't read or write - or that they have serious drug and alcohol problems.
Because at the moment - far too many repeat offenders regard prison as a 'bit of a skoosh' - as Scottish Justice Minister - Kenny MacAskill once famously said.
The men in question were former Tory peers - Lords Taylor and Hanningfield - jailed for fiddling their expenses just like four former Labour MPs from the House of Commons.
Now I'm not one of those tearing their hair out because the two noble lords served only a small part of their relatively short sentences - because I believe that short prison sentences don't work and - in any event - are a terrible waste of money.
Instead of providing such criminals with a free roof over their heads and three square meals a day - I'd have them serving their sentences in the community - doing supervised public works in reparation and restitution for their crimes.
Lords Taylor and Hanningfield - and their fellow Labour MPs - are not a danger to anyone - their real punishment is the public humiliation of being found guilty in court - and the long lasting damage to their reputations.
Locking them up doesn't really achieve anything - and a community based sentence would still deprive them of their liberty - until their sentence has been served.
Prison should be reserved for serious criminals - who should be put away for a long time - and repeat offenders who are clearly embarked on a life crime.
At the moment prison for repeat offenders is just a revolving door - they serve short sentences and come out again - only to cause chaos in their local communities.
A better solution would be to keep such repeat offenders off the streets for longer periods - and while they are in prision - the authorities should insist that they deal with their underlying problems.
Which might be that they can't read or write - or that they have serious drug and alcohol problems.
Because at the moment - far too many repeat offenders regard prison as a 'bit of a skoosh' - as Scottish Justice Minister - Kenny MacAskill once famously said.
