30. Jun. 2010. – 16:40:37
In order to achieve maximum publicity for his tirade against short prison sentences Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke MP QC voiced his policy aspirations on The Today programme this morning. Before I continue I must remind those interested that this is the cabinet member of previous Tory governments who if he had his way would have had this country in the Euro and the £ a historic memory. It was also he in 1988 when Secretary of State for Health under Margaret Thatcher who abolished the universal "right" to "free" NHS eye tests.
Amongst other things he said in the live interview that yesterday he had been to Leeds prison where he had talked to a prisoner serving an undisclosed sentence for driving whilst disqualified. This man had said to him, "I`m angry; I should have been fined". As a very general guide this offence does not attract a custodial sentence unless it is eg the third such offence or other aggravating factors such as being alcohol related or causing injury. To use such an illustration was fatuous.
How many minor thefts [shoplifting] must a drug addict commit before being sentenced to custody?.....five, ten, twenty.....................By the stage s/he is incarcerated every disposal in the book has been tried to no avail. Or the first time wife beater my bench and I sentenced a few months ago........a first time offender who was convicted after trial, had kicked his pregnant wife in the stomach, punched her breast and pulled her hair and dragged her through the hall. He was on the brink of being sent to Crown Court for sentencing but he got our maximum of six months. And of course there are the thousands whose sentences are suspended but offend within their supervisory period and render themselves liable to serve the original sentence in jail. Please don`t forget those who steadfastly refuse to pay fines or co-operate with probation to serve their community sentences. Short sentences imposed by magistrates are a very last resort. I am of the opinion that the Secretary of State for Justice has got this very badly wrong on a judicial level although there are pressure groups like the anti hunting brigade who were single issue fanatics who have this loud bee buzzing in their bonnets and reason is a word alien to them.
Let Mr Clarke trade on his bluff man of the people reputation and come right out and say we need to save money; we can`t afford prisoners. At least he might salvage his reputation for straight talking because as native Americans were scripted by Hollywood to say, "He speaks with forked tongue".
ADDENDUM 2nd July 2010
The official answer to how much it costs to keep an offender in prison is often compared to the cost of sending a child to Eton. The exchange in a parliamentary answer in 2008 is copied below. However it would in my opinion make more sense to publish the cost per day per prisoner. On my last prison visit earlier this year the governor told me he allocated 80p/per prisoner/per day for food.
Prisons: Per Capita Costs
David Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his latest assessment is of the cost of keeping an adult male in prison for 10 years. [237754]
Mr. Hanson: The overall average resource cost per prisoner in England and Wales in 2007-08 was £39,000 (rounded to nearest £500); for 10 years this would equate to £390,000. A separate figure for adults is not available.
Civitas in 2004 published their own figures on prisoners` costs using a broader brush to paint what many might consider a more realistic picture.
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