Met Police Chief is "Rather Fond Of Villains Going To Prison"

The Metropolitan police commissioner, Paul Stephenson, has waded into the debate about Britain's prison population by opposing government proposals to lock up fewer criminals.

Stephenson also expressed his support for handing out short-term prison sentences for offences such as burglary, contradicting the justice secretary Kenneth Clarke's recent comments that it was "virtually impossible" to rehabilitate offenders on short-term sentences.

The government has launched a review of sentencing policy, with Clarke indicating that he favours a greater emphasis on community sentences rather than putting more criminals behind bars.

Asked if he agreed that fewer people should go to prison, Stephenson told radio station LBC 97.3: "Don't forget what my mission in life is: save life, prevent crime. I'm rather fond of villains going to prison. I rather like it.

"I've said on many occasions, I think I've said it on this show before, that before a burglar burgles a house, he should anticipate a period of imprisonment if and when he's caught.

"I'm a fan of that and I also think that victims of serious crime would actually think that prison works."

Burglary can carry sentences of less than a year.

In comments that provoked discomfort on the Tory right, Clarke said: "Banging up more and more people for longer without actively seeking to change them is what you would expect of Victorian England."

He called for a "rehabilitation revolution", with sentencing policy focused on targeting the causes of reoffending.

Stephenson said there was a need for a "balance between retribution and rehabilitation" in the justice system. "I believe in both," he said.

Stephenson's predecessor as Met commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, is taking part in an inquiry examining short-term prison sentences, set up by Make Justice Work, which hopes to find workable alternatives to locking people up.

Clarke's comments directly signalled the abandonment of the "prison works" orthodoxy, launched by the former home secretary, Michael Howard. The justice secretary faces mounting pressure to halt Britain's £4bn prison-building programme, the largest in Europe. Howard said he was "not convinced" by Clarke's position and that "serious and persistent criminals need to be put in prison".

The Tory MP Philip Davies said many Conservative supporters would be disappointed by the justice secretary's plans.

"Disappointed because I think lots of them will feel that it's the wrong thing to do but also disappointed because many of them voted for the Conservative party at the last election on the basis that we would send more people to prison, not fewer."

Article courtesy of www.policeoracle.com