Judges with blood on their hands: Dramatic fall in thugs convicted of violent crimes sent to jail as only 50% of yobs repeatedly arrested with knives are jailed
- Fewer than 300 teenagers were put behind bars last year for serious attacks
- The number of teenager jailed has plummeted from more than 1,000 decade ago
- Only half of yobs repeatedly caught wielding blades are being put away
The number of young thugs being locked up has plummeted, despite soaring violent crime.
Fewer than 300 teenagers were put behind bars last year for serious attacks, down from more than 1,000 a decade ago.
And only half of yobs repeatedly caught wielding blades are being put away, as judges ignore a tough new ‘two strikes’ law that should ensure second-time offenders are locked up.
The shock figures uncovered by The Mail on Sunday last night sparked fears that soft justice is fuelling Britain’s knife crime crisis, as dangerous youths are given the message they can carry on wounding and terrifying people with impunity.
The number of young thugs being locked up has plummeted, despite soaring violent crime. Stock image
The figures come after a bloody week in which six people were fatally stabbed across the UK. In other developments yesterday: A 19-year-old was stabbed in the chest on a bus (pictured) in North London
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Former MP Nick de Bois, who drew up the ‘two strikes’ law, said: ‘The dramatic reduction in immediate custodial sentencing over the past ten years is telling today’s violent young criminals they have nothing to fear from the courts. Jail time alone may not deal with the complex causes of increasing violent crime but it does mean serious offenders are taken off the streets and shows others they will answer for their crimes.
‘Judges need to understand this poor track record in sentencing is making the problem worse and they are letting down victims and their families.’
The figures come after a bloody week in which six people were fatally stabbed across the UK. In other developments yesterday:
Former MP Nick de Bois, who drew up the ‘two strikes’ law Former MP Nick de Bois said: ‘Judges need to understand this poor track record in sentencing is making the problem worse and they are letting down victims and their families’
- A 19-year-old was stabbed in the chest on a bus in North London, while three revellers were knifed at a nightclub in Birmingham, just yards from where Home Secretary Sajid Javid met police on Friday;
- Three young men – including a 15-year-old boy – appeared in court accused of three of the latest killings in London;
- Police chiefs prepared to demand more than £50 million a year extra from the Government to stem the violence;
- l Legendary NYPD boss Bill Bratton told this newspaper that Britain must get more bobbies on the beat – but warned that indiscriminate use of stop-and-search risks sowing discord;
- l London Mayor Sadiq Khan was revealed to have spent £620,000 running private opinion polls to test the popularity of his policies –enough to pay the starting salaries of 26 police officers – prompting allegations he is focused on a possible Labour leadership bid at the expense of tackling knife crime.
In a graphic example of the weak sentences handed down by judges, police revealed yesterday that a thug caught with three huge knives at a busy railway station was spared jail – to the fury of officers.
Jodie Chesney, 17, who was stabbed to death at a park in Harold Hill, Havering, Romford, London. She is one of the victims of three latest stabbings in England
The man was arrested a week ago at Birmingham New Street with a camouflage Rambo knife, a hunting weapon with a 10in blade and an even longer kitchen knife. But British Transport Police said he had been given a suspended jail term and his only other punishment will be an eight-week curfew.
Richard Cooke, chairman of West Midlands Police Federation, tweeted: ‘Yet another dangerous knife criminal walks free from court! If this isn’t part of the problem we are truly kidding ourselves. This is a travesty of justice & makes a mockery of our work fighting the knife crime epidemic.’
And on Friday, 18-year-old Devante Omer was also given a suspended sentence for possession of a ‘fearsome’ knife in Enfield, North London. Superintendent Roy Smith of Scotland Yard tweeted: ‘I wonder if this judicial outcome serves as either a deterrent or offers any hope at rehabilitation.’
The cases illustrate just how few teenagers are now sent to young offender institutions for possession of weapons and violent offences.
Ministry of Justice statistics show that 1,057 juveniles were locked up for violence in 2008 but a decade later that number had dropped to just 288 – a 72 per cent fall.
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Most were given cautions (869) or community sentences (820). By contrast, the majority of adults still receive immediate custody for violent offences. The drop in tough sentences has come despite rising knife crime in recent years. From a low of 2,670 in 2014, the number of weapon offences committed by juveniles almost doubled to 4,492 last year.
Violence now makes up 29 per cent of all offences committed by children, a bigger proportion than any other type of crime, up from 19 per cent a decade earlier.
Under a law introduced in 2015, anyone over 16 convicted of a second weapon possession offence is meant to be locked up for a minimum of six months. But the latest figures show that just 45 per cent of the 384 under-18s convicted under the ‘two strikes’ law in 2018 were put behind bars, down from 53 per cent the year before.
John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation representing rank-and-file officers, said: ‘While the prison system is not perfect, we should never shy away from jailing offenders in the interest of public safety.
‘All too often the voice of those supporting offenders is much louder than those supporting victims. This is wrong. It’s essential the victims and their families are heard.’
And David Fraser, a former senior probation officer and criminal intelligence analyst, said: ‘We need to start locking up violent offenders at the first sign of trouble. These children should be punished so severely they would never do it again.’
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: ‘The number of children entering the criminal justice system has fallen 86 per cent in the last decade and we welcome the fact this figure continues to go down.
‘Under this Government, the most serious offenders are more likely to go to prison, and for longer – helping protect the public and keep communities safe.’
Violent thug freed to kill… for a rolex watch
By Michael Powell for the Mail On Sunday
The case of killer Jordan Bailey-Mascoll, who was spared jail despite committing a string of serious offences – then went on to stab a man to death – starkly illustrates the need for tougher sentences for young criminals, critics say.
The violent thug jumped off a moped and stabbed father-of-one Danny Pearce, 31, to death as he left Oliver’s Jazz Bar in Greenwich, South London, last year in a robbery for his Rolex watch.
The Old Bailey heard Bailey-Mascoll had been in and out of court since his early teens and had convictions for burglary, possessing cannabis and theft from a motor vehicle.
The only jail term he served was for being caught with a loaded gun in 2011 but after serving less than a year, he was released. He was jailed for 35 years for Mr Pearce’s murder.
The only jail term Jordan Bailey-Mascoll (right( served was for being caught with a loaded gun in 2011 but after serving less than a year, he was released. He was jailed for 35 years for the murder of Danny Pearce (left)
Last night Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: ‘This case illustrates what’s going wrong with our soft justice system.
‘Given his history, the family of Mr Pearce should have expected this man to be behind bars.’
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