MSPs have rejected legislation to introduce mandatory six-month jail terms for anyone caught carrying a knife. Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Robert Brown argued the threat of prison would not act as a deterrent, saying the cost of jailing 1,345 people for six months would cost almost £321m. “The single thing which deters people from criminal behaviour is the likelihood of being caught,” he said, adding: “The stop-and-searches carried out by Strathclyde Police have been very effective.”
The above statement is lunacy, “the likelihood of being caught” but not going to jail is a recipe for disaster, what the SNP and Liberals have done today is to put out a clear message that if you carry a Knife, you don’t necessarily go straight to jail. So why do people walk out their front door with a knife in their pocket? To protect themselves, to threaten in the hope the big bad boy will walk away? This shows an amazing lack of understanding of youth culture where respect and the fact that to back down shows weakness, the outcome is obvious and sadly well documented, someone ends up dead. And it may be the knife carrier not the intended victim.
I would also have to question the statement that prison does not work particularly short sentences. If prison is not working then maybe we need to look at making life inside an unpleasant affair that the offender never wants to revisit.