Former judge renews attack on Howard
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Your support makes all the difference.Michael Howard, the Home Secretary, yesterday stuck firmly to his plans for automatic life sentences for repeat violent and sexual offenders after Lord Donaldson, the former Master of the Rolls, attacked the Government as "despotic".
Defending his "two strikes and you're out" proposal that would impose mandatory life sentences for such offenders, Mr Howard insisted on BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The purpose of this proposal is to give the public that greater protection by ensuring that those who commit serious sexual or violent offences for a second time are not released until some assessment is made of the risk to the public. At the moment, if they don't get a life sentence, they are released even when everybody knows they still constitute a risk."
A source close to the Home Secretary said Mr Howard remained confident that his proposal had public backing because the Parole Board would always assess risk to the public before releasing a prisoner who had served the "tariff" set by the judge at the time of sentencing. "When you are dealing with a second-time violent offender, are people really arguing that the risk to the public of releasing him shouldn't be considered?" the source said.
The proposal for judges to set the tariffs to be served by life prisoners was spelled out in private discussions between Mr Howard and Lord Taylor, the Lord Chief Justice, prior to the Home Secretary's party conference speech unveiling the plans.
The Home Secretary is also said to have made clear that the "three strikes and you're out" proposal for minimum sentences for burglars and hard drug dealers would still allow judges to waive the minimum sentence in exceptional circumstances.
But Lord Donaldson insisted yesterday: "What worries me is any extension in mandatory life sentences where in effect the judge is being told by Parliament that they must hand over sentencing to the Home Secretary."
Mr Howard said there was no question of transferring sentencing powers to the Government and that the area of dis- agreement was "a narrow one".
Lord Donaldson has warned, however, of an unprecedented level of interference by politicians in the work of judges. He was speaking out because of "an entirely new development" which was triggering a constitutional crisis. Lord Taylor has also attacked the proposals for automatic life sentences.
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