Founded 1980
Chair:        
Secretary: 
Treasurer: 

Graham Smith
Jan Thompson
Graham Mumby-Croft


Issue No. 68  Spring 2013
News that the MOJ will be closing a further six establishments; in addition to Ashwell, Wellingborough and Lancaster, which have already closed, might well be welcome news and seen by some as an indication that imprisonable crime in the UK is falling. 

One would hope this to be the case, yet a report in a national newspaper a few weeks ago suggested that in 2012 over 90,000 offenders with 10 or more serious convictions received a non custodial sentence for the offence(s) they had committed, when it was thought by some that the crimes they had committed coupled with their previous criminal history demanded an immediate custodial sentence. If like me you want to believe that crime in the UK is reducing and hope that the current sentencing policies are not a cost cutting exercise and are indeed an indication of a fall in the amount of imprisonable offences then I very much welcome the announced closures. 
But, and there is always a but, many of us well remember the introduction of the suspended prison sentence which, upon introduction in the 1970’s had a dramatic impact by substantially lowering the prison population, 12 months down the road however, we saw an explosion in the numbers coming into prison, brought about by those who had been given a suspended sentence breaching the terms and conditions and being sentenced not only for the new offences committed but also the activation of the suspended term, which in many cases were consecutive to the sentence passed on the offence for which they had been returned to court. Let us hope that we will not experience the same scenario as we did back in the 70’s with the breaches of suspended sentences.

Something new for readers in this edition of the Newsletter is the inclusion of a page designed for those of you who are regular crossword and sudoku addicts. Feedback on how well this page has been received by members is sought so as to determine whether or not to continue it if future editions. 

I cannot end this editorial without making special mention to Brendan O’Friel who single handed edited this Newsletter for so many years. Brendan has decided to take a back seat from the main thrust of his Committee, duties, but has promised that he will continue to submit his much welcomed articles for our future Newsletters. 

Your editorial team are extremely grateful to those of you who have submitted items for publication in this edition. I know you as readers will find them enthralling. Do keep sending them in. The closing date for articles for the next Newsletter is August 30th 2013


Mick Roebuck