Tougher sentencing planned by Dartford MP
A bill on unduly lenient sentences is
being presented to the House of Commons this month by Dartford’s
MP.
Under current UK criminal procedure,
defence teams can appeal any sentence given at the Magistrates
Court or Youth Court that they feel has been too tough - but the
prosecution cannot appeal at all against sentences they feel are
too lenient.
Gareth Johnson MP is bringing the
Private Member’s Bill to the Commons on January 22.
He said: "It’s not right that the
defence can appeal in almost any situation, but the prosecution can
only appeal in the most serious instances of robbery, rape and
murder.
"I want to see more checks and
balances for the prosecution."
A person sentenced in Crown Court for
a handful of sexual offences, serious assault, burglary or
dangerous driving cannot currently be subject to a prosecution
appeal.
Mr Johnson worked in criminal justice
for over 20 years before going into politics and said: "I’ve been
aware that this has been a problem for some time now, we have a
system which inherently favours the rights of the offender over the
rights of the victim.
"I hope that this bill will be a start
to changing the system for the better."
14/01/13