Should violent offenders go to prison for longer? As a lawyer who has acted for victims of violent crime for years, this is a subject I feel very strongly about. In my view, the starting point is looking at why we send offenders to prison. In my view primarily it serves a punishment, secondly it gets dangerous people off our streets acts, thirdly it acts as an effective deterrent and finally it is an institution that should aim to rehabilitate the offender. It is a controversial topic and one that always stirs up a heated debate. Listen to our discussion on whether we should get tougher on those who break the law or whether the get tough approach will not work.
