Are Criminals Being Let Off Too Easily?

The society in which we human beings have lived over the past century has developed in many ways, some beneficial and some unbeneficial. Our lives have significantly improved however we are still living in fear and from who but the common. By this I am implying that even today we still see criminals walk up and down the streets while our law system deals out community service but not jail sentences, as this is where they belong. Thieves, rapists, murders all of them are still let loose and not dealt with fully enough by the courts of appeal in the United Kingdom. In this article, I will comment on this pathetic irony that we still live in and how it should really be dealt with. I myself do law for my gcse’s so therefore I have some accountable information on this situation.

When a common citizen commits a crime he is prosecuted for it by the police, known as the law enforcment. He would be given a sheet which states what crime he has commited and what court he will be needed to attend at a given time. There are three types of catergorys in which crimes are divided into: summary offences, these are minor acts agianst the law e.g. not wearing a seatbelt. Triable either way offences, these are acts that can either be seen as a minor or serious crime depending on the actions commited e.g. drink driving and then there is indictable offences, this is where the defendant commits a serious crime e.g. murder.

When the defendant (the person who commited the crime or is being prosecuted) attends court, he is brought by the judge and the jury and thus the case starts where he prosecuters and defendants lawyers bring up witnesses and evidence explaing thier side of the story. Now from here on it would be up to the jury to decide whether the defendant is guilty or not and if guilty, the judge decides on the punishment. When a judge gives out his punishment he bases it on the information given to him and in comes point on how I feel that the he/she goes to easy on the criminals and the defedant by giving out very small punishments. For example, a murder who tortured and raped his victim before stabbing him in fifty places would only be given a sentence of ten years. Now would ten years bring full justice for the woeing relatives of the victim with enough tears to fill a river? I would not think so. The fact that a these type of ghastly murderes are only given no more than ten years of jail is because of the system works for the courts of justice.