Eric Allison writes in The Guardian today, commenting on the road to rehabilitation and the effectiveness of the organisations set up to support offenders trying to go straight.
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Scale of violent crime rise revealed
March 9, 2010 – 11:11 am
The Telegraph reports that violent attacks are estimated to be 44 per cent higher than they were in 1998 after research on the way police record them allowed comparisons for the first time. The study, by the independent House of Commons Library, shows violence against the person increased from 618,417 to 887,942 last year. It is the first time such a trend in police recorded crime can be made because a change was made in counting rules in 2002 which ministers have always insisted meant figures before that date were not, therefore, comparable. The Tories, who requested the new research, said the findings “make a mockery” of such claims and reinforce the public’s fear that violence is in fact rising.
Tough on crime? Jail’s not the answer
March 8, 2010 – 9:47 am
Chris Huhne writes for the Guardian, arguing that locking up offenders doesn’t cut crime and that funding would be better placed enforcing rigorous community sentences instead.
Prison service ‘cannot cope with indefinite sentences’
March 4, 2010 – 10:28 am
The Independent reports that controversial open-ended prison sentences introduced to protect the public may have to be scrapped after inspectors warned that their cost to the penal system outweighed any benefits. The result, said Chief Inspector of Probation, Andrew Bridges, and the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers, is that prisons have become swamped with inmates whom the probation service did not have the resources to deal with. They warned that the situation has become “unsustainable” and called on ministers to begin a major review of the policy.
Youth jail education provider set to cut staff
March 2, 2010 – 10:29 am
Children & Young People Now reports that young offender institutions (YOIs) are set to lose scores of teaching staff and face industrial action just months after a deal was struck with a private provider to deliver education services in jails. Christiane Ohsan, national officer for the University and Colleges Union, said: “It is difficult to say at this stage how the service will be affected but we know that the staff are really angry because of the way they have been treated,” he said. “The staff are thoroughly demoralised and we might have to consider industrial action.”
Cost of jailing young offender “more than sending child to Eton”
March 1, 2010 – 11:13 am
The Guardian reports that jailing one young offender costs the taxpayer as much as £140,000 a year, a report by think-tank the New Economics Foundation says today. It says that locking up young offenders “makes them more likely to commit further crimes and be unemployed later in life”. The think tank calls for drastic cuts in the use of youth custody and budgets to pay for it to be given to councils and the money reinvested in rehabilitation programmes. Aleksi Knuutila, author of the report, said: “Prison costs the public purse about six times more than sending a child to Eton. What really makes our obsessive use of prisons even more of a tragedy is that those resources could have been used to tackle crime much more effectively.
‘More protection’ for gang witnesses
March 1, 2010 – 11:00 am
BBC’s Newsbeat reports on controversial new powers designed to protect witnesses in gang-related murders that will come into force next month in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The ‘Investigative anonymity orders’ will allow police to keep the identity of a witness secret from the start of a murder investigation. Ministers say they want to give gang members the opportunity to speak out without the risk of intimidation, but critics say the law is badly designed and sends the wrong message and claim it gives the impression that speaking to the police is deceitful and could even put young lives in danger. The charity Witness Confident, which supports witnesses to violent crime, says the measures could encourage reprisals as suspects try to find out who is talking to the authorities.
Conservatives urge outsourcing of child protection
February 26, 2010 – 11:33 am
In The Guardian today, it is reported that the Conservatives have said that failing councils may be forced to outsource their child protection services. Under Tory proposals to improve child protection, social workers will be able to establish social work practices similar to GPs’ surgeries, and failing local authorities may be obliged to contract out all or part of their children’s social care provision. The Conservatives argue that giving staff a stake in the practice would encourage them to stay put, “increasing the stability and consistency of care essential for vulnerable children”.
Matalan killer already on bail for murder when he killed shop manager
February 24, 2010 – 10:31 am
The Times reports that gang member Anthony Maina was already on bail for stabbing a teenager to death when he took part in the Matalan robbery murder. During the 15 months he was on bail, Maina was also convicted of possessing a knife, cannabis, crack cocaine and heroin, but was never jailed. A lack of evidence linking him to the murder of teenager Rizwan Darbar meant magistrates had no choice but to release him on bail. Following the murder of Matalan shopkeeper Jamie Simpson, Maina was arrested after mobile phone analysis and jailed for life with a minimum term of 14 years for Rizwan’s murder.
Crimewave boy, 12, jailed after plea to court
February 24, 2010 – 10:09 am
The Independent reports that a 12-year-old boy who has committed more than 30 crimes was temporarily remanded in secure accommodation today after youth workers told a court he could not be “contained”. Magistrates in Witham, Essex, ordered the youngster, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, to be remanded in secure local authority accommodation until they had decided on a punishment for his latest crimes. They decided that the boy could not stay in the care home where he had been living after a representative from a local authority youth offending team raised concerns. The judge added: “Pretty much every sentence available to the court at the time he was sentenced has been given.”
