More than 10,000 serious criminals who would have been jailed six years ago have been spared jail by UK courts because of more lenient sentencing rules, according to a report by the Civitas think tank.

Robberies by juveniles were up by 29 per cent between 2005 and last year, according to a report by the Youth Justice Board. Offences of violence by juveniles were up by a fifth. Criminologist David Green, of Civitas, blamed a rise in single parenthood, lack of willingness to teach children right from wrong and courts not handing down stiff enough sentences. New guidelines by the Ministry of Justice said serial teenage burglars and muggers could be given a conditional caution rather than be taken to court if they had a drug habit.
 
The Daily Mail claimed 65 murderers released from life sentences had committed further murders, rapes, kidnapping, false imprisonment, robberies and a string of violent offences. Experts blamed prison overcrowding for increasing pressure on the Parole Board to set the killers free. Proposed cuts in probation services would lead to an extra 300,000 offences a year, the National Association of Probation Officers claimed. A Government survey revealed that only 46 per cent of people – in some areas only 38 per cent – had faith in the police to deal with crime. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she was scrapping all targets imposed on police by the Home Office except the target of achieving a confidence rating of 60 per cent by 2012.
 
Pray for a workable criminal justice system.

Source: Prayer Digest