egafd.com

I am not one of those who argues for the return of the death penalty simply because I know it's not going to happen, but there is now a problem that the sentence for murder, i.e. the actual time spent in prison, may not be substantially more than an accused would have received for the offence the victim was trying to apprehend him for. The victim may or may not be a police officer. Until this problem is addressed some criminals will be prepared to take a life because it increases their chances of getting away with it. Perhaps we need a new Homicide Act which defines degrees of murder and lays down mandatory sentences for these. If anyone thinks this wouldn't work I would point out that the 1956 Homicide Act worked remarkably well until the death penalty was abolished.