DECRIMINALISE DRUG USE

I have long been in favour of the decriminalisation of drugs which are currently prohibited; heroin, cocaine and marijuana and the derivatives manufactured to get round current regulations which are sometimes more lethal than the originals on which they are based.  In the case of marijuana many jurisdictions have already legalised the drug in particular form.  The swinging sixties so called was an era of "weed" or "joint" or "squiff" the active ingredient of which is  tetrahydrocannabinol. However, already more than 70 different cannabinoids have been identified so far. These compounds have a chemical structure that is much related to THC, but their biological effects are quite different.  The current popular derivative among users is commonly called "skunk" which is a vastly different product and has more serious side effects than its ancestor of half a century ago.  Users of this and other prohibited substances have no knowledge of what they are taking and almost every day news media contain tragic stories of the effects of these products. Drug trafficking to the UK costs an estimated £10.7 billion per year and The Home Office has estimated the illegal drugs market to be worth £5.3 billion. Recent figures show that there were approaching 3000 deaths from misuse of prohibited drugs. Surely taxing such products and selling them at licensed premises with regulated content would be more sensible than the present situation. Dealing would be more heavily punished.  There is a downside insofar as some people might be tempted to try out these drugs especially marijuana who otherwise would not have done so. However I believe that it is a matter of when and not if for the time to come for change. Neither society nor individuals such as this  are helped by using the court process. 

ASLEEP ON THE BENCH

It seems a judge, not just a HH but a High Court judge  has been caught sleeping on the job. Unlike JPs who fail similarly she was allowed to remain in post. For an entertaining recent history of such failings read my post of 14th August 2015.

SOMETIMES DETERRENCE REALLY DOES WORK

It is perhaps not widely known that when a defendant is fined at court after conviction the fine is payable immediately and sometimes, just sometimes, it is paid immediately. There are those, however, who appear to treat the whole court and legal process as an interruption to their feckless relentless life of contempt for any kind of authority. Reading regularly in various publications of the amount of unpaid fines, £500 million, a £billion or even more........who knows the exact figure at any time.........reminded me of an experience shortly before my retirement. 

Joe faced fine and various court costs of £190.00 and when told the sum was due on the spot protested he had no money. When he was asked that knowing he was coming to court to plead guilty had he not realised he would be fined he moved his head inconsequentially. After another ineffectual exchange he was told to turn his pockets out. He refused. The jailers were told to take him to the cells and have his pockets emptied. Shouting obscenities he was led away. The next defendant who was sitting at the back awaiting his being called eventually had a similar question put to him about paying immediately. He told the court with alarming frankness, "I was going to tell you I had nothing but I don`t want to go to the cells like that bloke." He took £10 in £ coins and small change from his pocket as a down payment and was directed to the fines office. We later took £25.00 from Joe!

So the motto of this little tale is occasionally the principle of deterrence really does work.

KNIFE PREVENTION ORDERS; PAPERING OVER THE CRACKS

I have posted more than a few times on ASBOs and the like. Use the search box for posts.  Essentially they are civil orders breaching of which is a criminal offence.  I would term them displacement orders insofar as eg Drink Banning Orders can order the miscreant to do his/her boozing in another county or another town.  There have even been cases where the order has been nationwide.  They are IMHO a complete waste of time and an abrogation of our society to deter and if necessary punish people for their criminality.  But and it`s a big "but" they are simple and cheap to operate. And for the last nine years it appears that our criminal justice system is like the original motto of Tesco; pile it high and pile it cheap. The ASBO, CRASBO and DBO`s latest incarnation is the Knife Crime Prevention Order.  For actual details access this link. Stop and search operations were drastically curtailed by Theresa May as Home Secretary because it was asserted that they unfairly targeted young black men notwithstanding the fact that in many areas especially London it was young black men who were most likely to be victims of knife attacks. The spate of such attacks in London appears not to be met by police in sufficient numbers to show that the situation is under control. Thus this latest innovation.  I will not repeat the caveats expressed in the link above but it is my strong belief that this so called initiative will fail in its intention and will truly further alienate young black men.  This time there will be good cause for the resentment that will surely follow and that will make the relationship between them and police even more fractious. It is another example of increasing the powers of police to control our society by suspicion rather than by evidence; a catch all associated more often with jurisdictions where acting according to law is an afterthought rather than a priority.  These orders are just another example of papering over the cracks caused by the slashing of resources since 2010.

A SORRY STORY

I have voted Tory since 1979. The late seventies showed that the trade unions and the Labour Party had brought ruin to the country and the Tories under Margaret Thatcher had shown that their own moribund attitudes were for the past. The three day week and reading by candlelight were their nadir. In 1997 John Major with his determination to integrate the £ sterling with a "basket of European currencies" was so out of tune with the voters that they and I voted in a democratic social democratic party under the Labour label. We all had a clear choice.  We are now told by those who make their living commenting on the political situation that there could be an election at any time. And what is our choice?  A government led by a totally incompetent and personally unsuitable person who was appointed to her post because she was the second or third choice who aroused the fewest objections of a parliamentary party with the combined political IQ of a toad. She is bringing us closer to national ruin in so many aspects of our daily lives that there is a real possibility that there could be a true believing antisemitic Marxist occupying 10 Downing Street. The current state of our justice system provides the very evidence of what to a greater or lesser extent is happening throughout our society.  

Only last week the figures of homicides in England and Wales showed that there had been an increase of 14% in 2018 over the previous year. In tandem with that announcement was the publication of figures that noted what many have previously asserted but have been at best justified and at worst denied by those in power; police are under reporting crime. We have been told that we have the finest judicial system the world has ever known. That being the case it doesn`t seem to have convinced the MOJ that there is a sure way to be certain that there is a sufficient number of the senior judiciary to deal with the workload before it; paying the required rate to increase the supply, improve the current pension scheme and recognise that the working conditions are less than adequate. Today it is confirmed that in addition to a shortage of magistrates, a situation that was predictable to a MOJ which has been blind, deaf and dumb to its own inadequacy, more than half of all magistrates courts have been closed since the Tories in coalition took power in 2010. Earlier this month dozens of courts were in chaos owing to breakdowns in their IT systems. 

I know about the above because I was personally involved and still take an interest in the judicial system and its ancillary parts. But there are many who know similar problems in their own specialities. Indeed I`m certain some are reading these words who could tell similar tales but chances are these stories won`t make the news until catastrophe happens eg Grenfell where corruption and incompetence that caused that tragedy are waiting to be teased out of witnesses and evidence presented when the enquiry  resumes.  Two aircraft carriers launched way behind schedule and over budget that won`t have planes to fly from them  and be fully operational until 2021, nuclear submarines in a similar situation and an army which outsourced recruitment and now is thousands short in manpower: and that is just a small part of the failings of the MOD. 

There is no need for me to continue in this vein.  We all know it. The current chaos on Brexit was inevitable.  The warnings were there. The foundations of those warnings were solid. And that is about the only solidity  in this  whole sorry story.  

AN INADEQUATE CONCLUSION AT HEATHROW

One would have thought that suggesting there was a bomb and assaulting a security officer in the vicinity of the threat at Heathrow, would have been enough for an intending passenger to be arrested on suspicion and eventually charged with appropriate offence(s). In the case of the son of a world famous singer he was, unlike many who have committed similar offences, cautioned by police.  This was a disgraceful dereliction of duty by the police.  The officers involved and any superiors who agreed the caution should be charged with misconduct.  

How can police who often are under great pressures hope to command public respect with their becoming judge and jury and coming to such an inadequate conclusion?

OPINIONS OF A DINOSAUR

Last week the High Court rendered a not widely publicised decision on the future fate of the two British prisoners held in Syria by Kurdish forces.  They are accused of being not only Isis terrorists but part of the infamous group of murderers who filmed their murder by decapitation with a knife of innocent people and broadcast their horrendous deeds to the world.  This was part of a cold blooded exercise to terrorise those who opposed their attempts to impose Sharia over vast areas of Iraq and Syria.  The Home Secretary had agreed their extradition to the USA where they could be subject to the death penalty if found guilty of the charges laid against them.  That High Court decision leaves the way clear for them to face the legal system of a foreign jurisdiction where if found guilty for their alleged crimes the death penalty is an option.  

The Home Secretary has explained this apparent anomaly insofar as the death penalty has long been abolished in the UK.  "Our longstanding opposition to the death penalty has not changed. Any evidence shared with the US in this case must be for the express purpose of progressing a federal prosecution."

From time to time polls have indicated that there are deep divisions in this country on whether or not Parliament should reverse the abolition decision which was initiated half a century ago and when assurances were made by parliamentarians that adequate custodial sentences would not lead to increases in homicides.  This was a fatuous affirmation to the great British public. Proponents of the current position are quick to cite that only a few nations including certain states in the USA use the death penalty  and that these are indeed mainly countries where democracy is in name only. 

Two years ago a poll indicated that EU Leavers were sympathetic to bringing back capital punishment.  Last year Sky News published a poll showing that Conservatives had a majority also similarly in favour.  Having the good fortune to still be on this Earth after having enjoyed three scores year and ten and having been accused of being a dinosaur I am firmly of the belief that social mores work on a cyclical basis where opinions swing just as the weight of a pendulum reaches its amplitude and reverses its direction of motion. I believe that we are in just such a situation where the amplitude is about a decade or so from the vertical.  The discussions over the EU are just a single example of this.  The return of capital punishment could be another.  

IF NOT CUSTODY; WHAT????

RECENT cases dealt with by Taunton Magistrates' Courts include:

Richard Anthony Ward Coombes, 42, of no fixed address, two counts of theft as a trespasser, 12 weeks prison (consecutive) on each count, £780 compensation; theft as a trespasser; damaged a detention cell, one week prison (consecutive); used threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, two weeks prison (consecutive); caused a nuisance or disturbance to an NHS staff member, possession of cannabis, breached a criminal behaviour order, no separate penalty. (G). 

The above is copied from yesterday`s "This Is The West Country."
The report below is copied from "The Gazette" [Blackpool] yesterday.

Blackpool Magistrates' Court

A father-of-eight repeatedly messaged his former partner in breach of a court order. Lee Morement even contacted a male friend of his ex’s and tried to dissuade him from having a relationship with her, even though they were only platonic friends. Morement, 36, of Ribble Road, Blackpool, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a restraining order. He was sentenced to 16 weeks jail and ordered to pay £115 victims’ surcharge by District Judge Jane Goodwin sitting at Blackpool Magistrates’ Court. The judge told him: “You have yet again broken an order designed to protect her.”Prosecutor, Pam Smith, said Morement was made the subject of an indefinite restraining order in September last year which banned him from contacting his ex or going near her address. On December 23 he messaged his ex stating: “Put me back in jail all you like,” before messaging a male friend of hers warning him off from having a romantic relationship with her. He had previously breached restraining orders and at the time of the offence was on licence from prison after assaulting his ex.Steven Townley, defending, said his client and ex had been together 18 years and had eight children.There had been problems in their relationship because Morement had a bad drinking problem and they split up in July. Since then he had only seen one of the children because the others were said not to be ready to see him. In a December (sic)  he was at a party and had been drinking. 

Both these offenders were sentenced to immediate custody. The government pressurised by campaign groups and looking for further savings on its bill for prisons seeks to explain that all will be well if magistrates courts have the custody option removed bearing in mind that 4% only of cases at those courts result in a custodial sentence. I would invite any reader who supports such proposal comment on what they might consider a suitable non custodial sentence bearing in mind of course that only those in the courts at the relevant times would have heard all the proceedings.  

THE GONE MAGISTRATE

There is a prominent article in today`s Times [copied below] urging the government to allow Justices of the Peace to retire at age 75, five years older than the current age. It has been common knowledge for over a decade that the age profile of magistrates was such that a severe shortage of JPs was to be expected.  Indeed the discomfort for HMCTS is that not surprisingly many benches in addition to being short of magistrates per se will have fewer approved chairman to preside over courts.  That will lead inevitably to a need for more District Judges and Deputy DJs because as with the current shortage of nurses and GPs it will be nigh impossible to achieve the required additional numbers in the anticipated time frame.  My two predictions are that even although magistrates` training is currently nothing short of rudimentary unless government supplies more money future training standards will be below that which in the past produced lay personnel of such quality that they could preside over experienced legal practitioners with confidence notwithstanding of course the assistance of legal advisors. My other spot of crystal ball gazing leads me to conclude that owing to the aforementioned situation and desire for government control lay benches of magistrates as are now recognised will simply be allowed to wither on the vine. Already single justice procedures are active; it won`t be long before District Judges will take over most of the summary work and Justices of the Peace will be lucky if they are retained as wingers only or for other out of court processes. Thus will end over six centuries of truly justice for the people by the people.  Nobody will care; that`s the pity.

THE SACKING OF RICHARD PAGE ex J.P. PART 3

Latest news on sacked magistrate Richard Page; he is one step closer in his appeal to be re-instated. Previous posts on this topic going back some years can be seen by putting "Richard Page" into search box.