I Have Always Belived In Making The Punishment Fit The Crime,

a bit old fashioned in this day and age, but there it is, so I am now wondering what crimes were committed by some young offenders spared a year in jail for what are billed as 'tough' alternative sentences such as being taught fishing, learning to dig gardens, others have attended classes in which they have been taught skills such as how to claim the maximum in state benefits, the learning activities are among 'penalties' imposed during trials of the £14million Intensive Alternatives to Custody system launched by Justice Secretary Jack Straw last year, under the scheme, criminals who might otherwise have been contemplating sentences of up to a year in jail attend courses, which Mr Straw described as 'a combination of unpaid work, electronic monitoring, behaviour programmes, mentoring and help with resettlement all under intensive supervision', last month, a report by academics at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King's College, London, said community sentences had 'largely failed' and that nearly half of them were never completed by the criminals concerned, it found probation officers believed criminals given community sentences were 'laughing their heads off', former Prisons Minister and Tory MP Ann Widdecombe said: 'I can't see this working, 'Maybe it would be a good diversionary tactic on, say a 15-year-old, but these are people who have committed crime which would lead to up to a year in prison, 'They are far too far down the line for something like this.' is it me or have some of the people at the top lost the plot?