SIR – “Machete gag in club terror raid jailed for 60 years” screamed the front page headline in the T&A (February 23).
The first reaction was that this gang have got their just desserts – but wait a minute!
One then reads that there were six gang members, so the average sentence is ten years each. Then one realises that in normal circumstances these days (unfortunately), the maximum that each will serve is half their sentence.
So, for this “terrifying” armed raid using tasers and a machete, the average time served will be a mere five years for thugs who all had previous convictions as well.
No wonder that so many of us continue to despair at a justice system that appears to favour the criminal element rather than protecting the law-abiding majority.
We need to see much longer sentences being given, with these then being served in full. Good behaviour should be the norm, and anything other should result in an extension of time served.
The pendulum has swung much too far in favour of the criminal. How much longer do we have to wait for our political masters to do something about the continued outcry regarding inadequate sentencing?
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