LORD Chief Justice Woolf says that burglars should be more leniently treated and not sent to prison.

Furthermore, the Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine says he agrees with him. This would be laughable were it not for the fact that these two gentlemen are supposed to be the most eminent legal minds in the land.

It is madness to suggest such a strategy. It is demoralising for the victims of crime and for the police who see the few criminals they do catch slip through the judicial net to freedom.

If Cabinet member Lord Irvine actually believes his statement, he is completely out of touch with the public he is so highly paid by to represent. Let's not also forget, before New Labour came to power they promised to be tough on law and order.

So it beggars belief that both their Lordships in recent weeks have been caught advancing arguments in favour of keeping first time criminals out of prison at all costs. This worrying stance serves only to prove that the Government has lost the plot in tackling the problems of crime, general disorder and thuggish behaviour.

Until the police become a more visible presence on our streets, until the chance of being caught, convicted and imprisoned becomes a serious risk to the would-be offender, and until the courts begin to act as the tribunes of the people and not as outreach workers for the probation service, the criminal underclass will continue to reap havoc on the streets of Britain with impunity.

Tony Blair promised to be tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime. To date, neither pledge has been honoured.

Mrs Jean Allison

Whalley Road

Shuttleworth

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