Sentencing (Green Paper)

It should be pursued, yes, but not for persistent and prolific offenders. Far too many nasty people commit all sorts of horrible crimes and never find themselves in prison. On page 6 of the Green Paper, the coalition Government say:"““Recent evidence suggests there is a group of around 16,000 active offenders at any one time, who each have over 75 previous convictions””." The document goes on:"““On average they have been to prison 14 times, usually for less than 12 months, with nine community sentences and 10 fines.””" Prison works but only when people are sent to prison for an appropriate amount of time. It is clear to all of us that short prison sentences do not work. My solution is to send these very nasty 16,000 people to prison for longer so that they can be rehabilitated before being let out into the community.