Express & Star

Mark Andrews on Saturday: Smart justice? Soft justice, more like

Read today's column from Mark Andrews.

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David Gauke

GIVEN the Brexit debacle, you might think our esteemed politicians would keep their heads down for a bit, taking care not to fly in the face of public opinion.

So, to the backdrop of rising crime, it takes a very special degree of chutzpah for the Commons justice select committee to call for an end to all prison sentences of less than 12 months.

Now if they suggested jailing every car thief, burglar, hoodlum and vandal for more than a year, I’m sure most of us would agree. But of course what they really mean is letting them off with a slap on the wrist.

Prisons minister Rory Stewart says: “There is persuasive evidence showing community sentences are often more effective in reducing re-offending than short spells behind bars.”

He follows Justice Secretary David Gauke, who earlier this year unveiled plans ‘smart justice’, which basically means giving offenders community service orders rather than sending them to prison.

Which confirms my theory that the prefix ‘smart’ is usually a synonym for ‘rubbish’. Such as ‘smart’ motorways, which don’t have a hard shoulder and only allow you to drive at 40mph. Or ‘smart’ televisions which spy on you in your own home. Or ‘smart’ fridges which monitor your eating habits and lead to you being bombarded with spam emails.

'Smart justice' sounds like just letting people off.

Only last week, the Prime Minister said “we can’t arrest our way out of the knife-crime epidemic”. Which I think really means “it’s too expensive.”

That said, prison doesn’t have to be quite so costly. For example, last year Mr Gauke announced plans to spend £7 million on equipping prison cells with phones for inmates. Is that really essential? Then there is the £212 million Berwyn Prison in Wrexham, where every cell has a phone, shower and a laptop for the lags to do their shopping on. No wonder short prison sentences don’t work. I’ve stayed in worse hotels than that.

Compare our soft justice system to that of Singapore, where stealing a car results in a minimum 12 months in jail, and a second offence of graffiti or fly-posting is punished by three to eight strokes of the cane.

Some of Singapore’s laws are a bit odd, such as the offence of leaving a toilet seat up, although I'm right behind the ban on chewing gum. But the point is, it works. Singapore is one of the safest countries in the world. Unless you're a fly-poster, obviously.

Now that’s smart justice.

Abandoned car – could it be used to help the homeless?

THE West Midlands has been branded a ‘scrapyard’ after 8,000 vehicles were dumped in the area over 12 months.

This is obviously a problem. But given that we also have an epidemic of rough sleepers, could not some of these old cars be used for temporary accommodation?

Of course every homeless person should be offered proper hostel accommodation in the first instance. But this is a complex problem and, for a myriad of different reasons, many rough sleepers will decline that option.

There are obvious logistical problems, such as finding suitable land for the cars, and ensuring they are safely immobilised. But if we can find sites for travellers, surely we can manage this?

The real solution lies with supporting the many excellent charities which work with the homeless, and perhaps we all have a duty to do more. But whatever the politicians say, this is a long-term problem that no-one can solve overnight.

In the meantime it is surely better to have homeless people sleeping in the back of an old Mondeo that in the doorway of Asda.