Allister comments on Ford's soft option Justice Bill
19 October 2010
Statement by TUV Leader Jim Allister QC:-
“Rising crime levels, including economically crippling shoplifting, will not be deterred by a slap on the wrist fixed penalty notice. Yet this is the big idea in David Ford’s new Justice Bill. It will do more to mollycoddle the criminal, than fight crime. Indeed such is the anti-punishment ethos of this Bill that someone let off with a fixed penalty notice won’t even accrue a criminal conviction record!
“Shoplifting is not a victimless crime and ought not to be treated as if it were. Instead its cumulative effect on our business economy is huge and extremely negative. Nor is criminal damage a victimless or trifling crime, but in David Ford’s Justice world such need not be punished. Likewise, public order offences are to get the by-ball penalty notice treatment.”
