Lawless state

I AM a former police prosecutor, criminal defence lawyer and stipendiary magistrate.

The lawlessness we witness on a daily basis in Britain has gone too far and needs to be tackled without delay. Philip Flower’s proposal that there should be a royal commission is laudable, but the reality is that this simply kicks the problem into the long grass at great expense.

Sadly, it is not just the police that are failing; it is also the CPS and the justice system.

When a woman who alleges she has been raped finds the accused is not to be brought to trial for two years, we have plumbed the depths of callousness and incompetence.

When gangs run around with firearms and knives, even killing a little girl in her own home, surely we have reached the nadir.

The truth is that the police are not doing their job, which is catching criminals. The CPS is loath to prosecute cases unless a guilty verdict requires little effort.

The whole police service needs to be put under the emergency control of a single-minded, dedicated officer with the focus on tackling crime.

The courts need to be re-organised to deliver justice. Magistrates should deal with all but the most serious crimes. To clear the pandemic backlog, judges should sit without a jury. Legal aid should be properly paid, but restricted to major crime.

We also need mandatory, minimum sentences for carrying guns and knives to drive out this evil. And prisons should be far less cushy.

Unless these steps are taken, we will continue the drift into a lawless and brutal state.

JOHN TWITCHEN, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.

IT WILL take far too long for a royal commission to report its findings.

The Home Secretary knows what needs to be done. Surely it is her responsibility to bang together the heads of the police commissioners to re- establish their role, which is to deter crime and catch criminals.

JOHN MORTIMER, Whaddon, Bucks.