Ronnie Biggs is probably second only to the Kray twins (Ronnie & Reggie) in British gangster mythology. The Krays were cold blooded killers and deserved their incarceration and their notoriety. Ronnie Biggs’s was a run of the mill South London thief who was no more than a “mail bag carrier” in Britain’s greatest crime, the Great Train Robbery.
Biggs’s infamy came from the great escape from Wandsworth Scrubs 15 months into his 30 year sentence. Jack Straw should not have had any input into releasing Biggs from prison last week or any other criminal from custody. Such decisions should be left to the Judiciary and not a politician. I had no problems with the Parole Boards recommendation to release Biggs four months ago but I strongly reject the notion that politicians should have anything to do with judicial decisions that deprive people of their liberty, release them from prison or keep them locked up.
Lockerbie
Not surprisingly therefore, I was gobsmacked when the Scottish Justice Minister MacAskill made a Ministerial visit to the Libyan Lockerbie bomber, Al-Megrahi in Greenock Prison last week.
What was that all about? Watching him drive through the invited paparazzi into the prison was toe curling stuff. Parliamentarians make laws for Judges and the courts to administer. There should be no judiciary powers administered by any Government Ministers. Any decision MacAskill makes about Al-Megrahi will have everything to do with politics and nothing to do with Justice.
Justice / Lockerbie
Justice
Ronnie Biggs is probably second only to the Kray twins (Ronnie & Reggie) in British gangster mythology. The Krays were cold blooded killers and deserved their incarceration and their notoriety. Ronnie Biggs’s was a run of the mill South London thief who was no more than a “mail bag carrier” in Britain’s greatest crime, the Great Train Robbery.
Biggs’s infamy came from the great escape from Wandsworth Scrubs 15 months into his 30 year sentence. Jack Straw should not have had any input into releasing Biggs from prison last week or any other criminal from custody. Such decisions should be left to the Judiciary and not a politician. I had no problems with the Parole Boards recommendation to release Biggs four months ago but I strongly reject the notion that politicians should have anything to do with judicial decisions that deprive people of their liberty, release them from prison or keep them locked up.
Lockerbie
Not surprisingly therefore, I was gobsmacked when the Scottish Justice Minister MacAskill made a Ministerial visit to the Libyan Lockerbie bomber, Al-Megrahi in Greenock Prison last week.
What was that all about? Watching him drive through the invited paparazzi into the prison was toe curling stuff. Parliamentarians make laws for Judges and the courts to administer. There should be no judiciary powers administered by any Government Ministers. Any decision MacAskill makes about Al-Megrahi will have everything to do with politics and nothing to do with Justice.