Stop this netwidening lunacy

02.09.09

What a jolly weekend…..not content to lock up children who have done something wrong, this government is now intent on locking up children who have done absolutely no wrong at all.

What sort of society are we turning into? More and more people are being swept into the criminal justice system – at great cost to the public purse. Netwidening is endemic.

And I do sympathise with the magistrates’ concern about ‘Alcohol Asbos‘ – AA for short….Surely it would make more sense to invest in existing programmes that are already at the disposal of the courts?

For starters, how on earth are these new Asbos going to be enforced? Are we going to see breach rates go sky high, resulting in these people being drawn into the criminal justice system? Will they have to wear high visibilty vests so that the pubs, bars and off licences from which they are banned can identify them?

Quite frankly, it seems to me that we are coming at this from the wrong end. It is the alcohol “dealers” who should be curbed first – the supermarkets, Happy Hours, etc.

Yet again, Scotland are ahead of the game and are now banning irresponsible promotions and providing free tap water in pubs and clubs.

Alcohol is undoubtedly a major scourge of this country and is a key contributory factor to our crime rate and communities’ misery. But it will take more than a gimmick to solve this problem.

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