Judges need to get tough (From South Wales Argus)

Judges need to get tough

11:17am Tuesday 11th September 2012 in Letters

WHAT A disgrace to see Newport mentioned in a national newspaper at the weekend for having the worst courts in the country for sending down burglars!

Based on the number of burglars given immediate jail sentences, Newport is the most lenient in the country, with just under 58 per cent of crimes ending in jail straightaway! Judges should be ashamed of themselves for sending out the wrong image and helping to drag Newport down even futher than it is already and failing to protect all its residents. No wonder there are so many burglaries committed when offenders know that a lenient sentence will be handed out. It’s a surprise that the comment recently made “you must be brave to be a burglar” didn’t come from one of the judges who sit in Newport. Get your act together, judges, and impose the sentence to fit the crime

. A Haywood, Newport