It’s a sure sign of a lazy and out-of-touch government that allows convicted criminals to get the benefits of a suspended sentence while not bothering to prosecute them when they break the rules.
A suspended sentence is when a judge feels that a person convicted of a crime should not have to serve their full jail term. Sometimes it is used as a way to give an incentive to an offender to start behaving properly – with the reward being early release from jail. There are always conditions to such a suspended sentence, for example, good behaviour and not reoffending during that time.
My understanding is that a person who breaches their suspended sentence conditions can be sent back to jail to serve out the rest of their sentence behind bars.
Research by the Australian Institute of Criminology out this week has shown that two out of every five offenders who serve a suspended sentence commit a crime during that period. The report also shows that out of the offenders who breach their sentence, only 5% were prosecuted for their breach.
This is crazy! And Randolph Weirenga from the Police Association says that there is a view among police that suspended sentences are generally “a waste of time”. Source: ABC Online
The public must be protected from those who disregard the law; and this means strong enforcement of both laws and, when they are offered, all conditions of suspended sentences. When convicted offenders continue to break the law even during the period of their suspended sentence, they have abused the generosity of the community in giving them a second chance.
My position is clear – the welfare of the general community and the protection of law-abiding citizens is paramount. Criminals should serve their proper punishment and those who can’t breach their conditions of release should at least be made to go back and serve their full original sentence.
