Tim Fenton wrote:
"Pyromancer" wrote in message
...

Well you can tell your good friend that I for one object to the fact that
a
lot more money is now going to be spent on these scumbags having a
thorough
education in every other type of crime. If you took your head out of the
pages of the Daily Mail once in a while you might discover that, in the
real
world, PRISON DOESN'T WORK.

Indeed, this does appear to be true - though it depends on your concept
of what a prison is for.

Graffiti scum should be birched, hard. That's what they do in
Singapore, and it does work, remember all the hue and cry a few years
ago when they were going to birch an American boy who thought he was
above their laws? They have very little anti-social behaviour, simply
because they punish those who try it, in a harsh, painful, way. It's
quick, cheap, and doesn't cause any significant lasting damage.

Fine. I look forward to your spending some time out there. Once you've been
found in the wrong part of Singapore at the wrong time, been the victim of
mistaken identity, or otherwise found to have transgressed, and have had the
crap officially and ritually beaten out of you, by all means come back and
tell us how wonderful it was.

Well, if I was found with an album of graffiti images and dozens of
spray cans in my home and claimed "mistaken identity" (as someone I
once prosecuted was - and acquitted!), and had the crap beaten out of
me, I don't expect I'd get much sympathy.

Some societies are prepared to tolerate a
regime like that in Singapore - the UK wouldn't.

Why not? We used to have as harsh a penal code (if not harsher) than
that in Singapore and it was not only "tolerated" but an example to the
World. From where do you think Singapore took its example?

Noticeable that the example of how wonderful harsh punishment can be is not
Saudi Arabia, where, despite a regime which includes public execution, the
crime rate is far worse than in the UK.

What evidence do you have that wanton vandalism and hooliganism by
youths (the crimes we are dealing with in this thread) is worse in
Saudi Arabia?



Far
better that sending them to a cushy jail where as you say, they just
learn how to do more crimes while enjoying all the "rights" we insist on
giving them, and costing about 12k a year (or is it 20k?) per prisoner
to run.

I've never been to jail, so whether they are "cushy" I don't know. But
overall, Brian's statement has much to commend it. Perhaps you'd like to
tell us which rights should be denied to your fellow human beings?

Here's a list of "rights" I'd happily deny to my fellow human beings:-

The right to make others' lives a misery
The right to cost the State and private companies millions of Pounds in
clearing up the mess made
The right to vandalise any property, public or private
The right to enter private property without the owner's consent
The right to act offensively with impunity
The right to stick one's thumb up at any form of authority
The right to get away with whatever one likes
The right to get away with two offences with only a "Final Warning" for
each
The right to receive a "referral order" for the third offence
The right to get away with 5 or 6 breaches of a referral order before
being re-sentenced
The right to get away with 5 or 6 breaches of any other community
sentence before a custodial sentence is even considered

These are the "rights" which these vandals enjoy and which I would
happily deny them.


Marc.

--
Tim

Fly Monarch Airlines - feed that paranoia