Dr Lawrence Newport
Lawyer, campaigner and founder of Crush Crime
Dr. Lawrence Newport is the founder of Crush Crime. An organisation focused on highlighting crime rates across the UK and investigating areas of crime that have almost become legal. Burglary and theft have skyrocketed across the UK in the last 10 years, and the police investigations of these crimes have plummeted.
Lawrence is campaigning for longer sentences for career criminals. Britain is terrorised by a tiny number of career criminals. Just 10% of offenders are responsible for at least half of all crime in Britain. These career criminals are guilty of dozens or even hundreds of offences but our courts are routinely giving them short sentences - or letting them avoid prison altogether. If the government focuses on taking career criminals off our streets and into prison, we can crush crime rates by up to 90%.
Tomorrow he is coming on the show to discuss police activity in the UK, crime rates, the justice system, free speech and where crime is getting out of control.
Comment you questions for Lawrence below.
Guilt must rest on evidence, not reputation. Justice judges the act, not the actor.
But once guilt is proved, past convictions matter. A first offence may merit leniency. A hundred do not. Habitual criminals warrant habitual consequences.
Escalating sentences for repeat offenders is not vengeance. It is prudence. Deterrence may be imperfect, but amnesia is worse.
Should repeat offenders receive escalating sentences?
How do we incentivize the policing of genuine crime rather than low hanging fruit (i.e mean/distasteful tweets) in a climate where the police have been going through a softer rebranding and the college of policing appears to still be steering in this direction?