UK judges grant knife offenders impunity

jesuitsdidit · 04-06-2011, 09:39 PM

The British justice system is letting 80 percent of criminals caught with a knife go free despite a law envisaging jail terms of at least 12 weeks for the offense

http://edition.presstv.ir/TextOnly/d...aspx?id=183147

UK judges grant knife offenders impunity

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 09:25:47 GMT

The British justice system is letting 80 percent of criminals caught with a knife go free despite a law envisaging jail terms of at least 12 weeks for the offense.

In spite of growing cases of fatal knife attacks on citizens, British judges are being too lenient to offenders charged with illegal possession of a blade or sharp weapon, and four out of five are freed with a caution warning, said a report by the Ministry of Justice.

This comes as custody rates for such offenses have hit a three-year low with long-term imprisonments also dropping sharply.

In 2008, UK courts were instructed to consider 12 weeks as the minimum jail term for illegal possession of sharp weapons that could be increased or decreased based on defined factors.

Based on the figures, 5,228 people were convicted of illegal possession of a knife in the first three months of this year but only 1,014 offenders (19 percent) were given jail terms.

The percentage is the lowest since mid-2008, standing even lower than the same period last year where 23 percent of the offenders received prison terms.

The figures also show judges favored community penalties as the number of offenders facing non-custodial convictions rose from 31 percent last year to 33 percent, with one out of five released only getting a caution.

Only 32 percent of those who did get a jail term were sentenced to more than six months in prison, down from 34 percent in the first three months of 2010.

“Not everyone who carries a knife should be sent to prison but we need young people to reject the knife-carrying culture and stronger sanctions are part of sending them that clear signal,” said Blair Gibbs, head of crime and justice at the Policy Exchange think-tank.

"A high starting point for sentencing of knife offences is a clear expression of how seriously the public and parliament view this crime, so it is disturbing that courts are still only imprisoning one in five offenders for any length of time,” Gibbs added.

He also described the current trend of offenders managing to “avoid prison” through judges' leniency as “exactly the wrong message for the courts to be sending out.”

vikiv88 · 05-06-2011, 12:01 AM

Good, each instance should be dealt with in its own right based on the offenders history, purpose for carrying the weapon and how they were caught (I bet most just show off). However personally I think people who carry knives are stupid, its not gonna scare anyone away and youre not likely to win any fight, much better using tear gas or something for self-defence.

tmtransformation · 05-06-2011, 01:38 PM

Lemon juice or something acidic in a water pistol is a better weapon, or a ball point pen.

sxmrx · 06-06-2011, 06:40 AM

I carry tons of keys and loads of metal keyrings on a lanyard.

My neighbour was knifed by thugs two weeks ago for having the audacity to walk by as they were attempting to break into a pharmacy- in supposedly "a nice area".

We joked about upgrading to a can of hairspray and a lighter!

These thugs need locked up first time, or tagged with very restrictive bail conditions, not let off.

kanz · 06-06-2011, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sxmrx

We joked about upgrading to a can of hairspray and a lighter!

Less of a joke than you think.
At a time I used to carry a zippo and a tin of lighter fuel to fill it, needless to say it can be very effective at stoping trouble before it even starts.

snapdragon · 06-06-2011, 08:54 AM

Good.
A few years ago, my car exhaust was rubbing on the plastic valence under the bumper and making a noise, so I got an old blunt snap-off knife and heated it in a flame and cut the plastic part that was rubbing off. Afterwards, I put the knife in the boot in case I needed to use it again to cut more plastic off.
It must have slid into a crevice and over a year later, the POLICE stopped me at a protest, and searched my car, they found the knife, all rusty and with melted plastic on it and arrested me, put me in a cell, interviewed me, stole my DNA and fingerprints.
Never liked them since.

the nine · 06-06-2011, 12:19 PM

This is merely to massage crime figures, then politicians can say 'we have significantly reduced the knife carrying culture'

Let's reduce the number of police in innercities now..

04-06-2011, 09:39 PM	#1
jesuitsdidit Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: reading 'we r entering ice-age' chart in nick clegg's pyramid davidicke.com/ showthread.php?t=115401 Posts: 15,372	UK judges grant knife offenders impunity The British justice system is letting 80 percent of criminals caught with a knife go free despite a law envisaging jail terms of at least 12 weeks for the offense http://edition.presstv.ir/TextOnly/d...aspx?id=183147 UK judges grant knife offenders impunity Sat, 04 Jun 2011 09:25:47 GMT The British justice system is letting 80 percent of criminals caught with a knife go free despite a law envisaging jail terms of at least 12 weeks for the offense. In spite of growing cases of fatal knife attacks on citizens, British judges are being too lenient to offenders charged with illegal possession of a blade or sharp weapon, and four out of five are freed with a caution warning, said a report by the Ministry of Justice. This comes as custody rates for such offenses have hit a three-year low with long-term imprisonments also dropping sharply. In 2008, UK courts were instructed to consider 12 weeks as the minimum jail term for illegal possession of sharp weapons that could be increased or decreased based on defined factors. Based on the figures, 5,228 people were convicted of illegal possession of a knife in the first three months of this year but only 1,014 offenders (19 percent) were given jail terms. The percentage is the lowest since mid-2008, standing even lower than the same period last year where 23 percent of the offenders received prison terms. The figures also show judges favored community penalties as the number of offenders facing non-custodial convictions rose from 31 percent last year to 33 percent, with one out of five released only getting a caution. Only 32 percent of those who did get a jail term were sentenced to more than six months in prison, down from 34 percent in the first three months of 2010. “Not everyone who carries a knife should be sent to prison but we need young people to reject the knife-carrying culture and stronger sanctions are part of sending them that clear signal,” said Blair Gibbs, head of crime and justice at the Policy Exchange think-tank. "A high starting point for sentencing of knife offences is a clear expression of how seriously the public and parliament view this crime, so it is disturbing that courts are still only imprisoning one in five offenders for any length of time,” Gibbs added. He also described the current trend of offenders managing to “avoid prison” through judges' leniency as “exactly the wrong message for the courts to be sending out.” __________________ Death Penalty now Valid in Europe http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135044 posts 3 & 4 Just remember it was Mrs ("there's no such thing as society") Thatcher who removed the banking regulation. http://jesuitsdidit.blogspot.co.uk/ BROWN'S THE ONLY ONE WHO'LL STAND UP TO THE NWO - eric jon phelps is king!! and i am now the guardian of Haiti.

06-06-2011, 06:40 AM	#4
sxmrx Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 449	I carry tons of keys and loads of metal keyrings on a lanyard. My neighbour was knifed by thugs two weeks ago for having the audacity to walk by as they were attempting to break into a pharmacy- in supposedly "a nice area". We joked about upgrading to a can of hairspray and a lighter! These thugs need locked up first time, or tagged with very restrictive bail conditions, not let off. __________________ “Intelligence is the capacity to receive, decode and transmit information efficiently. Stupidity is blockage of this process at any point. Bigotry, ideologies etc. block the ability to receive; robotic reality-tunnels block the ability to decode or integrate new signals; censorship blocks transmission.” ~ Robert Anton Wilson

06-06-2011, 12:19 PM	#7
the nine Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 7,738	This is merely to massage crime figures, then politicians can say 'we have significantly reduced the knife carrying culture' Let's reduce the number of police in innercities now.. __________________ forget everything and remember.. what you think you have learned is only the knowledge your ego has gained on your brief time on this planet. you are infinite, you memories are much older than the universe itself. forgive everything and remember. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgdn0...layer_embedded

05-06-2011, 12:01 AM	#2
vikiv88 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 260	Good, each instance should be dealt with in its own right based on the offenders history, purpose for carrying the weapon and how they were caught (I bet most just show off). However personally I think people who carry knives are stupid, its not gonna scare anyone away and youre not likely to win any fight, much better using tear gas or something for self-defence.

05-06-2011, 01:38 PM	#3
tmtransformation Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 95	Lemon juice or something acidic in a water pistol is a better weapon, or a ball point pen.

06-06-2011, 08:54 AM	#6
snapdragon Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 1,164	Good. A few years ago, my car exhaust was rubbing on the plastic valence under the bumper and making a noise, so I got an old blunt snap-off knife and heated it in a flame and cut the plastic part that was rubbing off. Afterwards, I put the knife in the boot in case I needed to use it again to cut more plastic off. It must have slid into a crevice and over a year later, the POLICE stopped me at a protest, and searched my car, they found the knife, all rusty and with melted plastic on it and arrested me, put me in a cell, interviewed me, stole my DNA and fingerprints. Never liked them since.