Glamorgan Gazette

I popped over to Bridgend today. While I was there I stopped at a caf' for a mug of tea and and a sandwich, and had a read of the Glamorgan Gazette. The headline story was, superficially speaking, almost amusing. It concerned two drunk blokes who had pleaded guilty for nicking "the holy Mary mother of Jesus and the nativity bed" from a local church. A stupid drunken crime basically.

As I read on the facts were revealed. I read how 'one of the men was homeless having been released from prison 6 days earlier.' This did make me angry (not real anger, but the sort of anger you get from reading things which is a different kind of anger from the proper anger when you end up shouting). Why on earth was someone released from prison only to end up on the streets where, vulnerable, they are far more likely to fall back into patterns of drinking, drugs, and subsequently crime? Fortunately, in this instance, the crime was relatively trivial.

This case is indicative of the rehabilitative failure apparent in our criminal justice system. It demonstrates how the emphasis is squarely on punishment rather than prevention. Letting loose someone with past criminal form, very probably with alcohol problems, alone to fend for himself on the streets, is a recipe for trouble in anyone's books.

I understand that people should not be 'rewarded' for criminal behaviour. I appreciate the idea that we are all responsible for our actions. However, there are social forces at work that can exceed individual capacity. With re-offending rates through the roof, violent crime on the rise, and convictions on the up, surely it is time for a fresh approach- an approach based on rationalism and compassion rather than the urge for retribution.