Nus Ghani, MP for Wealden, has welcomed the introduction of new protections and powers for the police under the Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing Bill unveiled in Parliament today.
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill seeks to equip the police with more powers and tools to protect themselves and the public, while overhauling sentencing laws to keep serious sexual and violent offenders behind bars for longer and placing greater emphasis on rehabilitation to better help offenders to turn their lives around and prevent further crimes.
Nus has been a strong supporter of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill, which came into force in 2018 and doubled maximum prison terms for people found guilty of common assault against emergency workers from 6 months to 12. The Police, Crime, Courts and Sentencing Bill introduced today builds on this and goes further by escalating maximum penalties from 12 months to 2 years.
Other measures include widening important laws which prevent adults in ‘positions of trust’ from engaging in sexual relationships with young people under the age of 18, crack down on knife crime, Whole Life Orders for child killers, introduction of life sentences for killer drivers and Ensuring community sentences are stricter and better target underlying causes of crime such as mental health issues, alcohol or drug addiction.
Nus Ghani said: “The police and other emergency workers in Wealden do a remarkable job in the face of enormous challenges and pressure, and they should not have to go about their work under the threat of violence. It is absolutely right that we protect our protectors and ensure that the full weight of the law will be applied to those who attack them. I fully support the provisions introduced in today’s Bill as it will deliver the measures that many Wealden constituents, including myself, have been calling for. The legislation builds on extensive work already underway to deliver a smarter, fairer justice system to help the country build back safer from the pandemic.”
New laws to reform sentencing, the courts and offender management:
- Whole life Orders for the premeditated murder of a child as well as allowing judges to hand out this maximum punishment to 18 to 20-year olds in exceptional cases to reflect the gravity of a crime. For example, acts of terrorism which lead to mass loss of life.
- New powers to halt the automatic early release of offenders who pose a danger to the public.
- For children who commit murder, introducing new starting points for deciding the minimum amount of time in custody based on age and seriousness of offence, and reducing the opportunities for over 18s who committed murder as a child to have their minimum term reviewed.
- Ending the halfway release of offenders sentenced to between four and seven years in prison for serious violent and sexual offences such as rape, manslaughter and GBH with intent. Instead, they will have to spend two-thirds of their time behind bars.
- Changing the threshold for passing a sentence below the minimum term for repeat offenders, including key serious offences such as ‘third strike’ burglary which carries a minimum three-year custodial sentence and ‘two strike’ knife possession which has a minimum 6-month sentence for adults, making it less likely that a court will depart from theses minimum terms.
- Reforming criminal records disclosure to reduce the time period people have to declare previous non-violent, sexual or terrorist convictions to employers – covering both adult and youth offences.
- Introducing life sentences for killer drivers.
- Tougher community sentences which double the amount of time offenders can be subject to curfew restrictions to 2 years.
- Extended ‘positions of trusts’ laws to protect teenagers from abuse by making it illegal for sports coaches and religious leaders from engaging in sexual activity with 16 and 17-year-olds.
- New rules to end the need for participants to travel unnecessarily to court by allowing criminal courts to maximise the use of video and audio technology as it develops.
- Enshrining open justice principles by allowing for remote observers – using video and audio technology – across the vast majority of our courts and tribunals improving public access and transparency.
- For the first time enabling profoundly deaf people to sit on juries. Current laws ban the presence of a ‘stranger’ being in the jury deliberation room – this will be scrapped and instead allow a British Sign Language Interpreter into the room.
- Increasing the maximum penalty for criminal damage of a memorial from 3 months to 10 years.
- Stronger youth community sentencing options, including greater use of location monitoring and longer daily curfews, providing robust alternatives to custody
New protections and powers for the police include:
- Serious Violence Reduction Orders – new stop and search powers against convicted knife offensive weapons offenders designed to ensure offenders are steered away from crime and if they persist in carrying a knife or an offensive weapon, that they are more likely to be caught and put in prison.
- A legal duty on local authorities, the police, criminal justice agencies, health and fire and rescue services to tackle serious violence through sharing data and intelligence.
- Homicide reviews following deaths of adults involving offensive weapons to better understand the drivers of violent crime and stop it happening in the first place.
- Enshrining the police covenant in law.
- Doubling the maximum sentence for assaulting an emergency worker from 12 months to 2 years.
- A new law to allow police to obtain a search warrant for evidence related to the location of human remains where it is not possible to bring about a prosecution, for example where a suspect is dead, unfit to plead, or has already been convicted of the offence in the absence of a body
- Strengthen police powers to tackle non-violent protests that have a significant disruptive effect on the public or on access to Parliament
- Reform pre-charge bail to better protect vulnerable victims and witnesses. Known as Kay’s Law this will put victims of crime at the heart of police decision making and support the timely progression of investigations.
- Strengthen police powers to tackle unauthorised encampments that significant interfere with a person’s or community’s ability to make use of the land
