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Police watchdog chief blasts UK justice system as ‘dysfunctional and broken’

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Police watchdog chief blasts UK justice system as ‘dysfunctional and broken’

Police watchdog chief blasts UK justice system as ‘dysfunctional and broken’ and blames ‘corrosive effects’ of pornography for fuelling violent crime

  • Police watchdog head says ‘readily available’ hardcore porn fuels violent crime
  • Sir Thomas Winsor says our criminal justice system is ‘broken and on the floor’ 
  • He says that there is a culture of prisoners believing they have nothing to lose
  • His remarks came as prison governor says rehabilitating criminals was ‘fantasy’

By Susie Coen For The Daily Mail

Published: 20:37 EDT, 15 September 2019 | Updated: 20:39 EDT, 15 September 2019

The criminal justice system is ‘dysfunctional, broken and on the floor’, the head of the police watchdog said last night.

Sir Thomas Winsor, chief inspector of constabulary, said the amount of resources invested in preventing crime was ‘inexcusably low’. 

He added that the ‘corrosive effects of readily available hardcore pornography’ had exacerbated a rise in violent crime.

Sir Thomas’s comments came as James Bourke, the governor of HMP Winchester, said the rehabilitation of criminals was a ‘fantasy’. He added that it was farcical to think a four-week prison sentence could reverse a lifetime of issues [File photo]

Sir Thomas said prisoners were often victims of abuse and must be treated for their ‘mental ill-health’ in secure hospitals.

Writing in The Times, he said: ‘Extraordinarily little police time is spent on [the] prevention of crime.

‘Very high proportions of people in prison are unwell, uneducated, undervalued and justifiably angry. In childhood, many have suffered or witnessed domestic violence or abuse. Many more have severe and chronic mental ill-health, intensified with years without diagnosis or treatment.’

He added that ‘many have no sense of self-worth, feel hopeless, lost and abused, and that no one ever has or ever will care’. This has led to a culture of prisoners believing they have ‘nothing to lose’.

Sir Thomas said prisoners were often victims of abuse and must be treated for their ‘mental ill-health’ in secure hospitals. A prison is pictured above [File photo]

Sir Thomas said crime stemmed from a ‘complex’ raft of issues such as ‘families in crisis, the failings of parents and communities’, as well as alcohol and drug use.

He listed other causes, including ‘the corrosive effects of readily available hardcore pornography and the suppression of instincts of revulsion to violence’, adding that ‘most have nothing to do with the police.’ 

Sir Thomas said: ‘If you brutalise people, they will become brutal.

‘For those in prison – very many of whom are victims as well as well as offenders – the conditions must be humane, their mental ill-health must be understood and properly treated, and their rehabilitation must be properly resourced.

‘The enormous pressures on the now dysfunctional, broken and on-the-floor system are largely a function of public disinterest or avoidance of more humane, enlightened and effective prevention.’

Sir Thomas’s comments came as James Bourke, the governor of HMP Winchester, said the rehabilitation of criminals was a ‘fantasy’. 

He added that it was farcical to think a four-week prison sentence could reverse a lifetime of issues.

Sir Thomas Winsor, chief inspector of constabulary, said the amount of resources invested in preventing crime was ‘inexcusably low’. He added that the ‘corrosive effects of readily available hardcore pornography’ had exacerbated a rise in violent crime [File photo]

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