Bang on cue, today's 'Sun' has weighed in with a story about Vicky Price being swiftly moved to
a 'soft' prison, with the clear inference that she is getting special
treatment. As I wrote the other day, it is standard procedure to move low-risk short-sentence prisoners out of the crammed London prisons as soon as practicable, because of the demand on their accommodation. When she and Huhne come out on tag or on half-time release, watch out for reports that they have been released having served 'just' half (or whatever) of their sentence as if that does not apply to everyone.
This is a typical piece of suppressio veri suggestio falsi straight out of the Sun's style book. In the event that any of the people involved in the hacking and other scandals end up inside,it will be interesting to see the paper's take on their treatment.
Or as one might say, paraphrasing the paper; "It's the Sun what spun it."
ReplyDeleteNothing wrong in that. Just a reflection that ordinary people would like to see sentences served in full (if they are meant to come out at half time just give them half the sentence!) and in places which mean they are punished, same as other prisoners. If they are such low risk then don't give them a prison sentence.
ReplyDeleteThis why we need your writings to keep those not in the know informed. Unfortunately there can't be any Sun readers here as you use words with more than three syllables.
ReplyDeleteA good illustration of a point you have very effectively made before, BS (shame about the missing comma in the Latin tag though). And Ian deserves a special mention for his quick riposte! Excellent.
ReplyDeleteKate C
Mrs. Bystander writes:-
DeleteHis Worship may be silent for a while as he has locked himself in his study with his head in his hands. It is not easy to make out what he is muttering, but it sounds like "sodding Romans". Or it could be sodding pedants". I will take him a nice cup of tea soon, or perhaps a decent glass of malt.
Oh dear. Poor Mrs BS (and poor BS too)! For a moment I thought that I had upset him, but animals have never been my thing, so I am not included in his imprecations, which is a relief. I hope he enjoyed his whisky, and wasn't too grumpy.
DeleteAnd, in the circumstances, very wise of you not to risk asking whether Mrs BS actually took him a glass of decent malt.
DeleteI notice that she was moved the same time as DCI Cashburn who was imprisoned for press leaks.She spent 6 weeks at Holloway,is she more of a risk?
ReplyDelete(Of course I have the Sun as the source so it may be wrong)
Jaded
"If they are such low risk then don't give them a prison sentence."
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of a low security prison isn't to be a lower punishment. It's entirely a practical issue of managing risk. It's still a prison.
Anon,
ReplyDeleteThis ordinary person would be horrified if prison sentences could be increased without due process. That means that, if there is to be any variation of sentence, as an incentive to good behaviour for instance, the sentence pronounced by the court must be the upper limit, and any variation must be downwards.
And as for your "same as other prisoners" comment, you seem to be missing the point of Bystander's post.
Do you blame a skunk because it stinks?
ReplyDeleteThen don't blame the Sun for pandering to its pig-ignorant readers.
I do actually. It's a truly ghastly smell. You can bunk a skunk if you want, but I shall pass on that opportunity.
DeleteThe issue of the true length of sentence served versus length of sentence awarded is a recurring cause of angst amongst elements of the media that skew things in a similar vein to that of the "Sun".
ReplyDeleteI wonder if anyone at the MoJ has thought of flipping things around? For example, why don't we sentence on the basis of the absolute minimum time to be served, with additional time added for those who, under the present rules, don't qualify for a discount or early release?
I would envisage an initial outcry from the usual suspects over the apparent reduction in sentence length, but once the dust has settled such a scheme would at least remove this ongoing niggle about sentences always being a lot less in practice than they appear at the time of sentencing.
Dress it up as much as you want, it's still got to be the softest penal system in the western world. I read that the US department of justice did a study of comparable criminal justice systems and found that the chance of being acquitted in a UK court is the highest in the developed world, and even when found guilty deterrents are minimal, surely you must accept that? Day in and day out the anecdotal evidence demonstrably shows the inherent weakness of a system that has allowed itself to be taken over by the the liberal left. I some times think that the Guardian is required reading for those that make the decisions that effect the rest of us in relation to the management of offenders. Organisations like the Sentencing Guidelines Council is choc full of guilt ridden apologists for criminals parading their liberal credentials for the world to see.
ReplyDeleteSurely the greater percentage of acquittals is a good thing, as it means the old adage "better 100 guilty men go free than one innocent be wrongly convicted" is working? (Or at least, it did until the recent changes took legal aid from the poorest in society.)
DeleteDid you read that in the Sun?
DeleteOur system is one of the harshest in Europe. Particularly in the way we treat ouit children.
If our system is so soft why do we lock up a larger percentage of our population than most other European countries. Are we intrinsically more wicked?
DeleteWe waste people in prison.
ReplyDeleteCommunity service with confiscation of % of earnings and wearing a suitably humiliating smock, may help to deal with non violent offenders. Violent ones should be checked for vitamin and mineral deficiencies and remedy those, followed by community service.
We have the technology, let us use it? Put video camera and microphone on each community serf. Put the feed on the internet. Offer a reward to anyone on the net who spots them doing wrong or a lesser reward for when the feed drops out and is notified to G4S or whomever.
The sheer fact of prison and shame should be enough for no violent prisoners. Many lives have been ruined in this episode and its about time they were left alone, they will have years of this , every time their name is mentioned this will be raked up.
ReplyDeleteThey have paid the price.
Every paper reported the story. Why do the contributors of this blog not acknowledge their own irrational snobbishness?
ReplyDeleteHere's what the Guardian wrote:-
ReplyDelete"Vicky Pryce, the disgraced economist and wife of the former energy minister Chris Huhne, has been transferred to an open prison in a grade II listed building just four nights after being sentenced to an eight-month jail term."
"Disgraced", "grade II listed building", "just four nights".
Not so different to the Sun's coverage after all.
Overheard at The Club?
ReplyDelete"Too bloody right about the bloody libs. Couldn't agree with you more, old sport. Bloody libs have ruined everything. Uh, do please pass the port -- there's a good chap. Where was I? Oh, yes. What these wogs need is touch of the lash. Worked a treat back in my day, back in the raj. Worked on the other ranks as well, not just the natives. A good twenty on the buttocks. That'll do it. And in schools as well. Abolish the cane you say? Bollocks! Makes one see the straight and narrow path, I say. A good twenty on the bare buttocks. Worked a treat in my day. In fact, I could use a taste of the old bamboo right about now. I wonder if Mistress Domina is free? Where was I? Oh, yes. Bring back the lash, and damn these liberals all to hell!"
Or, possibly not.
NURSE!!!!!!!!!!
DeleteI think it is preferential treatment, there is no doubt about that that high profile people are moved to cushier jails. As someone who has served several prison sentences which vary in length I can say the smaller sentences 6 months or less they dont move you, you are hardly there long enough to be assessed correctly for a determined risk category.
ReplyDeleteWhen you arrive you are given an immediate risk assessment by security and normally applied the default especially if you have not been imprisoned before. I have known people who their first time in dont get their security classification reviewed for months upon months by which time they are out. To be categorised within 4 days stinks IMHO and there is definitely a gulf in how normal prisoners are dealt with versus high profile prisoners
Nice to see her ex husband follow suit now isn't it? Seems internal security are processing prisoners mightily fast now for their classification.
ReplyDelete