A sentence for life

Amanda Davies meets a man who thinks the punishment does not fit his crime.

The debate over informal punishment versus on-the-spot fines made the news last week.

Ex-Youth Justice Board Chairman Prof Rod Morgan said he feared that the government was too quick to criminalise young people for petty offences where a ticking-off would suffice.

In a report for King's College, London, he criticised an "extensive net widening" of the use of summary justice such as cautions and on-the-spot fines.

Your News went to meet 'John'. He was given a caution after a minor scuffle after a football kick-around. Now he says it has become a major incident in his life.

John is now trying to get on with his life as best as he can. John isn't his real name - he asked us if he could remain anonymous so that is why we have changed his name and in the report above an actor voices his words.

It is now six years since he came in contact with the police in a incident which he says has changed his life.

"When I was about 21 I was having a game of football in the park and there was some pushing and kicking. People were going in hard on each other and there was some argy bargy. Several hours later I found myself in the police station."

People were going in hard on one another and there was some argy bargy. Several hours later I found myself in the police station. John

John was handed a police caution and while he feels he should have been punished, he feels what was handed out to him was too harsh.

"I have seen fights in the city centre where people have been beating the living daylights out of one another and they have just been pulled apart and sent off different ways.

"I should have been punished but I've got to live with it for 50 years of my professional career. It just seems over the top. The punishment really doesn't fit the crime."

John's case highlights the growing use of summary justice to punish minor crimes like aggressiveness and drunkeness.

Figures from the Youth Justice Board covering England and Wales show that for 2002, a thousand penalty notices were issued for disorder. By 2006 that number had gone up to 513,000.

Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve accused the Government of "pursuing easy targets instead of going after the real criminals".

"Not only are serious offenders escaping real justice due to the reliance on spot-fines but, as this report shows, many people who should be dealt with informally are being criminalised."

The Ministry of Justice said there was a reluctance to bring young people to court unless necessary when an equally effective alternative could be found.

A spokesperson said: " The law-abiding majority want to see crimes dealt with more effectively, and fixed penalty notices and cautions are part of this process."

Critics worry that summary justice criminalises young people

John is training to work in education, but his caution for assault means the job hunt is now much harder.

"Every time I go for a placement I have to prove myself and justify what I've done. Now I am training to be a teacher - every job I apply for I have to put it on the application form, I have to explain it.

"I know that some schools won't accept me because I've got a caution. The scary word is the assault. It is perceived as a violent crime so it is definately holding me back."

While the measure of on-the-spot summary justice was introduced to free up the courts and allow the police to deal with more frontline duties critics say there's a danger of acts of youthful naivety becoming hurdles which last well into adulthood.

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