Crimes NEWS

UK Soft justice: How thugs can batter victims like this and get a caution

Published by Waleed Fakhroo on November 7, 2009

THESE are the battered faces that shame justice – by proving it has gone soft on thugs.

In every case the victim was savagely beaten, bottled or even bitten.

But each attacker was let off with a slap on the wrist.

A TV probe to be shown next week reveals the scale on which offenders are being given cautions to unclog the courts – sparking accusations that it is justice on the cheap.

The investigation by the BBC’s Panorama found that last year 38,952 offenders received a caution for ABH – a charge that could carry a jail term of up to five years.

Half of all criminal cases brought to justice in England and Wales are now dealt with out of court.

Programme makers also found cases of GBH, burglary, child neglect, sexual assault and rape dealt with by cautions.

Monday’s investigation highlights ex-air hostess Lauren Smith, who was battered at a party by a stranger who bit a chunk out of her arm.

Petite Lauren, 25, of Newcastle, said: “The police said it was ABH and I thought he’d go to prison. Then they told me he’d admitted everything and they were giving him a caution. I said, ‘It’s unacceptable. How can you give him a slap on the wrist?’”

Student Dean Martin was gouged in the face with a bottle in a pub toilet. He said: “I nearly fainted at the amount of blood I was losing.”

The unprovoked attack left him needing 24 stitches – yet it was dealt with by a caution.

A third victim, John Guest, was beaten up in his own home – but his attacker got a conditional caution and was told to pay £200 compensation.

John said: “It cost more than £200 just to clean my carpets. It has left me feeling utterly disgusted.”

It was only when John’s case was reviewed by judges that the sentence was increased.

The Government insists cautions help unburden courts and free up cops to deal with more serious criminals.

But critics say it is driven by New Labour’s target culture and the need to cut costs.

Assistant Chief Constable Chris Weigh, of the Association of Chief Police Officers, denied cautions were “a soft option”, saying: “They are recorded on a criminal record.”

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