BORIS WAR ON SOFT JUSTICE
‘I’ll make streets safer’
BORIS Johnson last night vowed to keep dangerous criminals off the streets with tougher punishments.
The Prime Minister has launched an urgent review of sentencing to see if reforms are needed to lock prisoners up for longer. It will focus on violent and sexual offenders.
In addition, prosecutors will be given an extra £85million to ensure cases are brought to court.
Mr Johnson promised to stop murderers and rapists being let out too soon: “Dangerous criminals must be kept off our streets, serving the sentences they deserve – victims want to see it, the public want to see it and I want to see it.
“To ensure confidence in the system, the punishment must truly fit the crime.We have all seen examples of rapists and murderers let out too soon or people offending again as soon as they’re released.
“This ends now. We want them caught, locked up, punished and properly rehabilitated.”
Attacks
Mr Johnson’s girlfriend Carrie Symonds last year told how she felt let down by the justice system after the Parole Board decided “black cab rapist” John Worboys should be freed. After an appeal by victims, the High Court reversed the ruling.
Worboys, of Enfield, was jailed in 2009 for 12 assaults in London after targeting women who hailed his cab before drugging them in order to sexually assault them.
In June, he admitted attacks on four more women and he will be sentenced next month.
Ms Symonds was targeted by the attacker and played a part in securing a judicial review into the Parole Board decision.
“Victims had never done this before,” she wrote afterwards. “But we won.”
She added: “The justice system and the Parole Board let us down. We knew he remained a danger to women and we knew we had to do all we could to prevent anyone else being drugged, assaulted and raped.”
The latest sentencing review, which will report back to the Prime Minister in the autumn, could recommend changes in legislation. This could mean no more early release for prisoners, plus longer sentences for repeat offenders.
Mr Johnson pledged a blitz on criminals when he entered Downing Street last month. The latest announcement comes on top of his promises over the weekend to “come down hard” on crime.
They include a £2.5billion programme to create 10,000 additional prison places and the extension of enhanced police stop-and-search powers across England andWales.
The PM’s plan also includes raising prison standards, rehabilitating offenders and reducing re-offending.
It will fuel speculation he is preparing for a general election amid deadlock in Parliament over Brexit.
He will meet police, probation staff and prison leaders today to discuss how to cut crime and improve the criminal justice system.
Home Secretary Priti Patel, National Crime Agency chief Lynne Owens and Victims’ Commissioner DameVera Baird will also attend.
Currently, many offenders sentenced to 12 months or more serve the first half in prison and the
second “on licence” in the community, and can face recall.
The review will consider whether changes to legislation are needed so that more time is spent in jail.
Jean Taylor of Families Fighting for Justice, which wants tougher penalties, said soft sentences put families through further pain. “I strongly believe there has been no deterrent in the country,” she said. “We must have tougher sentences for the most serious of crimes. Life should mean life. Boris has got it right and it’s the first time I have heard a Prime Minister speak as strongly as he has on sentencing.”
Baroness Newlove, a former Victims’ Commissioner, has called for victims to be told how long an offender will actually serve instead of the headline sentence.
The peer said she was concerned those who have suffered from crime and their families were losing confidence in the criminal justice system because most offenders were released early automatically.