Criminals benefit from lax sentencing
Apathetically lax criminal justice regime means offenders with hundreds of convictions are being given bail by judges, including those with numerous bail breaches.
Apathetically lax criminal justice regime means offenders with hundreds of convictions are being given bail by judges, including those with numerous bail breaches.
The figures were obtained by The Sun newspaper after Conservative MP Philip Davies uncovered the details from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) through Parliamentary questions.
One walked free despite 382 previous convictions and cautions, including 125 instances of failing to surrender to bail. Following a further breach of bail he was still not locked up, despite being convicted for the 383rd time.
In another example, bail was granted to a criminal with 304 convictions and cautions, including 60 bail breaches, who broke his bail again but was still not jailed.
Its simply astonishing, Mr Davies said. These are the cases that drive the police mad. They catch a criminal, hes let out on bail, he breaches his bail, hes hauled back to court and the judge gives him bail again. The only people who benefit from this pathetically lax regime are the criminals.
Last month figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showed more than 350 killings were carried out by people who were out on bail for another crime.
The decision to grant bail must always be a matter for the police and courts based on the full facts of each case, said a MoJ spokesman.