Criminals to pay £600 toward cost of prosecution
Chris Grayling MP, our Lord Chancellor and Minister for Justice has announced that people convicted of crimes in the criminal courts (i.e. criminals) will be made to pay £600 each towards the cost of prosecuting them. It’s a policy designed to garner headlines and popularity in the right wing press (leadership bid in the future I wonder) rather than one actually intended to bring in any money… at least I hope that’s what it is otherwise Mr Grayling really is as badly informed about the Criminal Justice System as everybody says. The policy is wrong for two main reasons. First, if you believe that criminals should pay the costs of bringing the case against them then why not charge them the actual costs of doing that rather than an arbitrary £600? A simple shoplifting may well cost less to bring to court whereas a fraud could cost thousands of times that £600 figure. So, from an ideological stand point it makes no sense. At this point it’s worth declaring my ...