Sentencing

[RalphinaM]

He may well have. "May well have" just isn't as concrete as "definitely will" though is it?
He was maybe 40-45 when sentenced maybe? So out when he was 63-67?

 

[aslwhitelaslsnow]

Thing is, that's not all true.

You mug someone, you're going to jail, you only go to jail over a TV license for repeatedly failing to pay fines and those riot sentences were set as a (very effective) deterrent against rioting that left several people dead and many businesses near ruin.

 

[KathleenS]

Often not, and indeed burglary is even worse

 

[rishi]

Many of the looters weren't active participants in the rioting, they saw an opportunity in the aftermath. It's WAY too early to say if the sentencing has had any effect on rioting because riots aren't especially common here.

 

[Tanith]

I think you're going to struggle to find many cases of street robbery that don't end in a prison sentence - I expect most of those lenient sentences are for juveniles.

Burglary sentences depend a lot on the circumstances. Stealing from a construction site may well be considered burglary, but it is a world away from breaking into someone house while they sleep.

 

[DreSmith]

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/rossendale/crawshawbooth/8881934.Suspended_sentence_for_drunken_Rossendale_mugger/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2274884/Middle-class-Manchester-robber-raided-house-days-spared-jail.html
http://www.thestar.co.uk/lifestyle/features/suspended-sentence-for-town-centre-mugger-1-313571
that took me all of 20 seconds

 

[KeithJ]

also
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2198621/It-takes-huge-courage-burgle-somebodys-house-What-judge-told-intruder-raided-homes-letting-walk-free-court.html

 

[ChrissyP]

Note how they're all suspended sentences. They're effectively on parole.

I don't like it, but they tend to be fairly effective. Habitual offenders normally screw up and end up serving those sentences.

And the rationale is often: If I send you to prison, I'm likely to make you worse, so we'll give you a chance.

 

[michelle7212001]

hmm, I didn't post the one about the old lady who was beaten half to death by a guy on a suspended sentence for robbery.

 

[SophieK]

But we're drifting from my core point anyway.

 

[Trevon]

Yeah, and now he is locked up for the original robbery and the later crimes.

No one wants to pay to buy more prisons, so more and more people have to be given suspended sentences and community orders. Personally, I think any violent crime should be an automatic custodial, but the sentencing guidelines disagree.

 

[Genycapp]

I'd happily pay a "keep the scum off the streets" tax for more prisons and longer sentences for those that warrant it.
Let's face it. Take the 10% worst burglars and car thieves off the streets and what we pay in taxes to do so we'd probably save on car and home insurance.

 

[actuallyashley]

Funding of public services is a whole other can of worms, although as in this case nothing exists in isolation. Personally I wouldn't object to paying a bit more tax if there was a corresponding clear increase in the quality of public services, it's when it all disappears into quangos and consultation groups I get annoyed (remember Brown's billions?).
On suspended sentences if the primary purpose of the criminal justice system is to protect the public then suspended sentences clearly don't work in such cases. Indeed your previous statement hat they usually screw up and serve the time anyway shows that it doesn't work.

 

[Toonses]

but there isn't room to hold all the people on suspended sentences, so they are necessary. You dont want to be releasing murderers early to make room for low level burglars.

 

[singlemom08]

Or as a society we could decide that mugging and burglary are worse crimes than defrauding a couple of grand from a medium to large employer, which always seems to carry a hefty sentence, and allocate space accordingly

 

[pml49]

My worry with that is you risk ending with a prison system like the US one day. If we're talking burglars and car thieves then there'll be some that do it because they're twits sure, but I doubt its a majority. THe problem we have now is that if you take someone who steals chaces are they do it because they're in a crappy situation. Not saying they're all stealing for food, quite a few will be stelaing stuff they could do without, but its a product of environment. If you imprison them and then chuck them out back into the same environment but now with more criminal knowledge and even less legit life prospects then they're just going to slip back into the same thing.

 

[iamsupersexy]

The problem with the US system is that it's done on the cheap. Supervision levels are pitiful which is why the prison culture is allowed to continue. As for the social aspect, remember that being poor in the US is a world away from being poor here.

 

[mellowyellow]

Probably because if we went by humans primitive desire for revenge we'd probably still be doing stuff akin to vlad the impaler.

Thats probably one reason why we often dont follow what the public thinks.

 

[TheDictionary]

So stealing a large sum on money is less bad than stealing a mobile phone? Not sure that's true.

 

[DaveT]

It's the act, not the value. Indeed a more socio-anarchist poster might propose that if you steal millions you get a seat in the house of lords (provided you don't totally take the mick). Do I consider robbery with the threat of violence worse than taking money from an office with no-one else physically involved? Yes!