| STATESIDE Punishment to fit crime is one aim we can all agree on
PROPOSALS to increase the maximum penalty for causing death by dangerous driving have received a warm welcome in Parliament.
It’s part of a massive shake-up of sentencing laws contained in a new Government White Paper.
While debate at Westminster has recently been dominated by Coronavirus and, once again, by Brexit, the sentencing plans are a reminder that Government does other things too.
Proposals include increasing the maximum penalty for causing death by dangerous driving from 14 years to life imprisonment, and increasing the maximum penalty for causing death by careless driving whilst under the influence of drink or drugs also from 14 years to life imprisonment.
There will also be a new offence of causing serious injury by careless driving.
The measures were welcomed by Warwickshire MP Craig Tracey, who highlighted the case of Sean Morley, a 20-year-old from Bedworth, who was fatally injured in September 2012 while crossing the A444.
In 2013 a Walsgrave man was jailed for 16 weeks after being convicted of failing to stop and failing to report an accident.
He served the sentence alongside a three-and-a-half year jail term for drugs offences.
The man was also banned from driving for 12 months.
Mr Tracey asked Justice Secretary Robert Buckland: “Does he agree with me that for those who cause death or injury by dangerous driving, the punishment really must fit the crime. “And as Sean’s mom said, in the wrong hands a car is as deadly a weapon as a gun or a knife?”
Mr Buckland, of course, agreed. The proposed legislation was also broadly welcomed by Birmingham Selly Oak MP Steve McCabe and Telford MP Lucy Allan, when they spoke in the Commons.
Other proposals include increasing the maximum sentence for thugs who assault emergency workers from 12 months to two years.
The publication of the White Paper, called A Smarter Approach to Sentencing, and the Commons statement by Mr Buckland, is the first stage towards putting the proposals into law.
He said: “For too long our justice system has been beset by complex and confusing laws which the public often feel fail in their most essential aims – to keep them safe and properly punish offenders.
“That ends today. This White Paper is the first step in a fundamental shift in our approach to sentencing, towards one that is fairer, smarter and ultimately better protects the public.
“Our measures will ensure the most serious violent and sexual offenders get the prison time they deserve, while new community interventions and changes to rules around criminal records will help boost rehabilitation and cut reoffending – which means creating fewer victims.”
Other proposals include making a “whole life order”, in which an offender spends the whole of rest of their life in prison, the default position when an offender commits the premeditated murder of a child.
It will also become possible for the first time to impose a whole life order on an offender aged 18 to 20, in extreme circumstances. At the moment, they cannot be used for younger offenders.
The current rules meant that Hashem Abedi, the brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi, could not receive a whole life order when he was convicted of offences including 22 counts of murder for his part in the crime. Although he was 23 when sentenced, he was under 21 when the crime was committed.
New powers will also halt the automatic release of offenders who are deemed pose a terrorist threat or are a danger to the public.
New laws will end the halfway release of offenders sentenced to between four and seven years in prison for serious crimes such as rape, manslaughter and GBH with intent. Instead they will have to spend two-thirds of their time behind bars.
The starting point for determining sentences for 15-17 year olds who commit murder will be increased from a minimum of 12 years.
The automatic release point those who receive a standard sentence of seven years or more will be increased to two-thirds of their sentence, rather than half, for the most serious violent offences relating to homicide and for all serious sexual offences.
Other plans include GPS tagging for burglars to keep tabs on their whereabouts, and a major review of the criminal justice system to obtain a clearer picture of how it supports offenders with neuro-divergent conditions such as autism, ADHD and dyslexia.
The White Paper also confirms plans to support ex-offenders striving to turn their lives around through work by reducing the time in which they are required to disclose certain convictions for non-sensitive roles.
Custodial sentences of up to a year will become ‘spent’ after a further 12 months without reoffending, while convictions between one and four years will no longer be disclosed after four crime-free years. Previously, such offences would continue to be shared with employers for up to four and seven years respectively. However, any individual that reoffends during their rehabilitation period will have to disclose both their original and subsequent offences to employers for the duration of whichever rehabilitation period is longer.
Labour’s shadow justice secretary David Lammy urged the Government not to apply tougher sentences “gratuitously” but said the party welcomed the reforms to “protect the British public”.