My father, who had little interest in things musical, loved Gilbert and Sullivan Operas and I remember accompanying him to a number of shows at the Bradford Alhambra.  The Mikado was one of his particular favourites. The librettos are full of satire about English Society and, in particular, its ruling classes. The story line describes the muddling on of a delightfully ineffective justice system in the Town of Titipu. The mechanics of torture and death are described in some detail. However, no one facing execution is ever actually executed because the executioner is far too soft hearted. 

The subplot seems to be saying that human beings are nasty in what they desire, but actually when it comes to the crunch, they are cowardly and certainly would not personally want to be involved in imposing gruesome sentences. The ruler (the Mikado) comes to visit and describes his system of justice in a song entitled ‘A more humane Mikado’; “My object oh sublime, I shall achieve in time to let the punishment fit the crime, the punishment fit the crime.” Of course there is a lovely wedding and everyone lives happily ever after; a wonderful piece of Victorian escapism with a dose of fun poked at the ruling classes.

I wonder how much public attitudes have changed since Victorian times. In my life time I have witnessed a hardening of attitudes towards crime and punishment. True the death sentence was abolished in 1965 but since that time, the theme of ‘lock them up and throw away the key’ seems to have gained the upper hand. The popular press has consistently put pressure on politicians to stiffen sentencing guidelines and this culminated in the introduction of Indeterminate Sentences in 2005. This meant that offenders were not sentenced to a period of imprisonment based on the crime they had committed; they had to prove they no longer posed a ‘threat’ to society before they could be released.

Even David Blunkett, the labour Home Secretary who brought in this system, later recognised it was a fundamental error. It was also criticised by the European Court on Human Rights. It took Kenneth Clarke to finally repeal this horrendous sentencing regime in 2012 by which time there were 6000 prisoners held on this system, many of whom had long served many more years in prison than their original sentences.

However the problem did not send there. Some five years on hundreds of prisoners are still held in jail long after their prison terms have expired. James Ward was convicted of arson in 2006 and given a indeterminate term of imprisonment but was told he could be considered for parole after 10 months. He was finally released a few days ago after a long campaign by his family and the Guardian.

There is no doubt that Indeterminate Sentences are a blot on our justice system.  How could we have allowed this outrageous concept of a punishment which did not fit the crime to come into existence? The lawyers of this nation were certainly asleep at the wheel, gradually seduced by public attitudes akin to those of Victorian times.  Public safety depends largely on changing the behaviour of individuals and our underfunded and stretched prison system is never going to achieve that. Supervised and supported life outside the prison system for offenders is by and large the best way of ensuring that the law abiding live safe and secure lives. It is a small but dangerous minority of serious offenders from who we really need to be protected.