Bag's Rants

Crime and punishment revisited.

Interestingly enough there were four articles on the BBC website regarding crime and punishment that caught my eye.

The first was that old pervert Gary Glitter. Seems he has been jailed in Vietnam for three years for kiddy fiddling. Three years. It's good what you can buy your way out of in countries like that. He was facing the death sentence. Read more here. However, we have to get into the act too and it seems there are calls for us to prosecute him on his return to the UK. Let's get some other countries in on it too. We could send him all over the world for crimes that have nothing to do with anyone bar Vietnam. What a bunch of tossers we are.

The next was the eviction of a family from their home in Liverpool. It seems that their son, Michael Barton, broke the law, he helped kill Anthony Walker, and so they, his parents, must be evicted from that councils property. Why is that exactly? The Knowsley Housing Trust has served an eviction notice on Barton's parents and is asking the courts to repossess their home in Huyton. How the hell can this be justice? Read more here. Hope the courts have more sense than KHT.

Next up was one I've mentioned before. It's about indeterminate sentences where the criminal must prove he is not a threat to a review panel before he can be released. Now, I don't agree with this. I think that sentences should be tougher but not left wooly so that those that are more eloquent can worm their way out. Kill someone, get life with a minimum of 25 years. Parole considers them depending on merit. Steal something trivial, first offence, a year, get out without a review board, steal again, second offence three years and so on. What is the point of this type of sentencing. It bypasses our justice system yet again. Sounds good on paper but must lead to injustice. It now seems that this policy is increasing overcrowding in prison. Read more here. What a surprise. Seems that the panel made up of who exactly are not releasing people they don't like the sound of. British justice in a nutshell.

Finally, read this about our beloved PM and his junkie father in law. It seems that Tony Booth, the name sounds familiar, asked our PM for permission to light a joint before him and Cherie were married. Read more here. It's at the bottom. I hope our PM did his civic duty and turned him in. Mmmm. Seems not. Is he now an accessory? Jeez, he was lucky. If the PM then had been like him he might have spent some time in jail as an accessory being waterboarded to give up his dealer.

posted by Bag @ 8:15 pm