DRINK, DRUNKS AND DRINKING//MINE`S A COKE

 

by TheJusticeofthePeace @ 04. Dec. 2010. – 11:33:05

I joined our Licensing Committee in 2003/4. I have never been called upon to sit as a licensing magistrate. In 2005 licensing matters were transferred to Local Authorities, via the creation of ‘Licensing Authorities’. Many learned individuals and organisations counselled against such a transfer. Sadly the Jeremiahs have been proved correct. It is hardly coincidental that problems of excessive alcohol consumption have since then become almost a daily feature of the printed media and a common subject for TV programmers. And this is not mere anecdote. Medical statisticians have their own evidence of the increasingly younger age at which liver disease is appearing in patients. The man from planet Mars sitting in any public gallery of any magistrates` court in England and Wales will quickly be appraised of the relationship between criminal activity and alcohol. So in the usual British way belated political so called initiatives, sticking plaster solutions and some shrewd marketing practice are in the news.

Earlier this week the government published a Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill. Amongst its proposals are:- 

* Measures to give communities and local authorities greater control over alcohol licensing to tackle problem premises. They will have new powers to restrict premises from selling alcohol late at night if necessary and be able to clamp down harder on premises which persistently sell to children doubling the fine to £20,000.

* A stronger local influence on licensing decisions by allowing everyone the option to comment on licensing applications: not just those living close to premises, and ensuring health and policing concerns are considered more widely so that the impact of licensing on crime and disorder or public safety can be taken into account. 

To put in perspective the first point above, the average fine imposed under s146 [selling alcohol to children] in 2008 was less than £500. This is a clear example of the politics of hot air. It rises above the cold air of reality until temperatures are equalised and then falls to earth. The other point is remarkably similar to the considerations that magistrates` licensing committees applied before their powers were removed into the welcoming hands of “representatives of the community”. 

The application of sticking plaster is the proposal to set up “drunk tanks” where those jelly legged apologies for thinking beings can be held in safety whilst they sober up rather than clogging up the custody cells in police stations. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has made the remarkable discovery that many people suffer from medical and/or mental health problems. I would never have guessed……….On second thoughts an analogy with sticking plaster is inappropriate. A complete bodycast seems apposite. There should be an enquiry into why supposed intelligent people in Westminster and Whitehall can consistently support legislative changes that are so obviously [to the common man from Mars] inappropriate for the situation and/or problem under consideration. Of course we will have to wait for the 3rd coming for that…..nobody will believe the 2nd coming if and when it happens.

And shrewd marketing tactics are never far away from Coca Cola company. It is reported that BOGOF will arrive at many pubs in time for Christmas. That is “Buy 1, get 1 free” provided it`s for the designated driver and the drink is straight Coke. I suppose every little helps. At least that`s what the Transport Department hopes.

EFFECT & CAUSE by KEN CLARKE

 

by TheJusticeofthePeace @ 03. Dec. 2010. – 09:34:09

I watched a recent [30/11/2010] BBC Newnight programme on i player. It was broadcast from a prison. Statements were made by and questions were asked of the Justice Secretary Ken Clarke who expounded his views and tried sometimes with great difficulty to counter points put to him by various knowledgeable people including a couple of ex cons one of whom had spent more than half his life behind bars.

Mr Clarke`s usual bluster was at times exposed for what it was…..bluster. He began by saying the effect of his proposed changes would be to reduce the prison population by 3,000. Did I mishear him over the last few months when he has explicitly stated that his primary objective was to take 3,000 out of prison? He has now it seems decided that effect precedes cause. He admitted he will find it difficult to calculate success of his proposals or their costs.

The thinking process of the short term recidivist prisoner who had been in for theft from a shop was clearly revealed when he described it as a “no victim” crime. People with this mind set have no idea what “victim” trauma or harm to society is about unless the crime they`re discussing actually causes a person physical harm. And finally the old lag wanted prisoners on their release to be offered proper jobs in the community………..and of course has no thought about trade unions, minimum wage and economic meltdown.

This whole discussion is predicated on the supposed cost of keeping somebody in jail as approaching £40K p/a. This figure has been totally debunked by statistical analysis but I cannot remember from what source. What I do know is that the £40K would be much less if the criminal activity prevented by incarceration were costed into the equation.

As usual it is as much a guessing game as backing the winner of the 2018 World Cup Final.

ADDENDUM 16/12/2010
It was a one way bet but it`s still a glowing feeling to know that the convolutions put about by Kenneth Clarke were rumbled by this blogger and doubtless many others. At yesterday`s Commons Justice Select Committee grilling the Rt Hon QC finally admitted that his prime purpose was to put the financial cart ahead of the rehabilitative horse. In plain language his nonsensical statements of the last few months that as a matter of consideration to re-offending rates and the ineffectiveness of short sentences he wanted to reduce the prison population by 3,000 and as a result costs would be lowered can now be seen by all as what it was...political disassembling of the first order. In his own words he told the Committee that the explosion in prison numbers had to be stopped and contained for financial reasons.

An admission of this nature, although awaited by many observers, would be the end of employment for many employees. Truly the mores of politics and politicians are such that most honest people despair.

A TYPICAL MORNING IN OUR REMAND COURT//A JUSTICE SYSTEM IN DECLINE?

 

by TheJusticeofthePeace @ 02. Dec. 2010. – 10:52:00

My court will still be operating long after this government has passed into history. It is a large modern building and probably will be absorbing one or more courts which are destined themselves to be history in the next year or so. The work within is not any different from that at hundreds of others in an urban environment. With a bench approaching two hundred souls and a permanent District Judge sitting in the remand court is not an everyday experience and so one tends to remember some matters more readily than on other occasions.

Such was the case not so long ago when five matters stood out from the many that were called on. 

There were two brothers one aged 22 and the other 14 charged with vehicle theft x 3. The facts as stated by CPS common to each offence were that the allegedly stolen cars, all fairly high value, were loaded on to a low loader equipped with a winch. We were told that a witness had on one occasion seen a very young man, not very tall, accompanied by an older man, , getting into the truck and driving off. We committed both to the crown court with a bail condition, unchanged from that of the police bail on which they appeared, of not to drive any lorry equipped with a winch or a towing or loading device. That was a first for me and my colleagues.

Once again an alcoholic of NFA with pages of “previous”, who had been detained overnight and who looked twice his 43 years was fined and released on time served. What other way is there of dealing with these examples of society`s outcasts? Until there is cases like this will continue to demean our civilised society. 

And then there were three other cases from the cells with considerably more serious outcomes. A man in his fifties was brought before us charged with s18 wounding. He had allegedly after an altercation cut an ex partner`s arm with an old fashioned open razor causing her to need fifteen stitches. She was lucky. He missed an artery. The pictures were not a pretty sight. His lawyer did his best with his bail application which had no more chance of succeeding than a snowball surviving half an hour in a hot oven. The defendant had allegedly committed the offence whilst under a suspended sentence order, he had previous offences on bail, previous violence against women the most recent having been about a year previously and had twice breached bail. If ever a lawyer went through the motions it was this defendant`s representative. If I wore a hat I`d take it off to him. He certainly earned his £7.50 or whatever pittance the Legal Services Commission now deems appropriate.

What can one do with a defendant newly arrived from Eastern Europe pleading guilty on two charges of possessing a flick knife and a bladed article, arrested with the knife, almost comatose in a drug induced state sleeping on a bench opposite the police station who was released on police bail and arrested again with class A possession and who on a previous day refused to co-operate with probation, sat mute when interviewed by the court psychiatrist and whose representative told us that even with an interpreter he did not say a word when she tried to take instruction? He was sent to the crown court. Their honours can earn their wages on him. 

Any remand court in my opinion always throws up at least one example of gross inefficiency by one of the many agencies whose timely and adequate input on the day is a vital necessity for work to proceed smoothly. On that day it was our local constabulary at fault. We were told by our legal advisor that one particular overnight custody case, a breach of curfew, had to be completed by 11.30am. He was being held at a nearby police station. Accordingly at about 10.15am we asked the usher…….at least in court one we don`t have to beg, steal or borrow one………about Mr X to which the reply was, “ He`s not here but his lawyer has been waiting for him since 9.30am.” About 11.10pm we are told he is in the cells. At this point the usher should have advised his lawyer to go to him immediately. With a packed courtroom and everything happening the bench overlooked reminding the usher who wasn`t in one place long enough for it to register. The result was Mr X was brought into court where his lawyer asked for time to take instructions. He is given ten minutes and both head downstairs. Meantime CPS tell us that police had not informed SERCO until 10.30am that Mr X was due in court. At 11.28am with Mr X in the dock his lawyer tells us that Mr X who looked to be at death`s door had been in hospital but until he had seen a letter purportedly to that effect being held by the police he could not advise his client to admit or deny. CPS withdrew the charge. The chairman emphasised to the prosecutor that the bench`s dismay be conveyed to the senior officer in charge at the station. What can one do? And this is prior to the HMCS 24% cash reduction in our area.

During this sitting we retired once only for five minutes when we decided to send the knife carrying comatose unresponsive defendant to crown court for sentence. Twenty one matters were held over until 2.00pm where another court would perhaps have squeezed in three or four after their allotted work. That means that about sixteen or seventeen defendants who we knew had been there since around 10.00am according to the usher would have wasted a day and will have to return. What kind of country are we living in? What kind of justice system do we want? What kind of justice system do we deserve? What kind of justice system are we heading towards?