Criminals on probation murdered 98 in two years [UK justice update]

The Guardian (UK) ^ | December 6, 2006 | by Alan Travis, home affairs editor

[aculeus]

Criminals under the supervision of the probation service have been convicted of nearly 100 murders and more than 500 other serious violent and sexual offences, including rape, over the past two years, according to official figures out yesterday.

The Home Office statistics confirm that high-profile murders such as the death of London banker John Monckton and Winchester woman Naomi Bryant by those under probation supervision were not isolated cases.

The figures come just two weeks after the home secretary, John Reid, criticised the performance of the probation service, saying that public confidence had been shaken by such high-profile failures. MPs will vote next Monday on a massive shakeup of the service including plans to open its work up to the private and voluntary sectors.

Broken down, the statistics show that people on probation were convicted of 60 murders between 2004/05 and there were convictions for a further 38 the following year. There were a total of 326 convictions for serious offences in 2004/05, including murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, rape and arson. There were a further 288 in 2005/06 making a total of 614.

The final number may be even higher as more than 250 cases are still waiting to come to trial.

A Home Office spokeswoman said the figures demonstrated the importance of pushing through legislation to improve the assessment and management of all offenders in the community.

[Popocatapetl]

It has been internationally recognized that keeping prisoners in military quality field accommodations is neither cruel nor excessive. Therefore, it should be no problem for England to erect rural internment camps for convicted felons not needing to be in a metropolitan area for health, age, legal, or family reasons.

They would sleep in large, heated tents, with considerably more space per individual; eat from military field kitchens; and use latrines.

Far greater numbers of criminals could be kept in such circumstances the entire duration of their sentence, so undeserved leniency would be not be needed to avoid overcrowding.

The costs of creating an maintaining such facilities are marginal, compared to the creation of "brick prisons."

Even using such prison camps seasonally, when the weather is good, would considerably improve prisoner behavior, and instead of being seen as punishment, transfer to such a facility might be seen as a reward for good behavior, in that in such rural areas, prisoners would get fresh air and sunshine.

[KyHammer]

Let me guess, Crime rate has gone up since the death penalty was discontinued and gun ownership was outlawed.

[IronJack]

It's obvious the British aren't being culturally sensitive enough to these unfortunates, who are just striking back at an oppressive system that has crushed them under its iron boot heel. The banker and the soccer mom are the ones who should be behind bars, not the downtrodden victim.

[uncbob]

John Reid, criticised the performance of the probation service, saying that public confidence had been shaken by such high-profile failures.

Ya think

[driftless2]

Every bleeding heart (including me) frets and worries about innocent people being executed. No one, or no lib bleeding heart ever writes about the numbers of convicts on parole or who have escaped from prison who went on to murder or violently assault innocent people. I read an article some years back where a writer put down a figure of the number of innocent citizens murdered by escaped killers. It wasn't a small number. There was a Cold Case Files episode I watched a few weeks ago where some Canadian killer escaped from maximum security and went and murdered four more people before he was caught. Let the anti-death penalty people face that one.

[yankeedame]

Every bleeding heart (including me) frets and worries about innocent people being executed. No one, or no lib bleeding heart ever writes about the numbers of convicts on parole or who have escaped from prison who went on to murder or violently assault innocent people. I read an article some years back where a writer put down a figure of the number of innocent citizens murdered by escaped killers. It wasn't a small number. There was a Cold Case Files episode I watched a few weeks ago where some Canadian killer escaped from maximum security and went and murdered four more people before he was caught. Let the anti-death penalty people face that one.

Amen! And what about all those stories about how a DNA test -- generally insisted upon by gallant young law students (at least here in Ohio) -- freed a man wrongfully accused and/or condemned to die? Once, just once, I'd like to see a story where these crusading law students were wrong; that the DNA does match; that there weren't any mistake, that the guy is guilty as sin. Even better would be some sort of ratio. You know,

DNA exonerates : DNA confirms guilt.