“Yes, on the face of it that seems an absurd result, though if that is these men's attitude I don't think they will stay out of jail for long. Where was this, I didn't see it locally? However I think we have had too much bad law made as a knee-jerk reaction to isolated and one-off cases. Don't forget of course that the last Government granted the prosecution the right to appeal an "excessively lenient" sentence, so maybe that is what will happen here. Hopefully!

Or was it that the prisons were so crammed with harmless hippies growing their own pot, that there was no space for a couple of mindless thugs, lol?”

“Tony, of you may have seen in the news this week the article about two men involved in an attack on an innocent man in the street which put him in hospital for a month. They were spared prison after telling a judge they were 'sorry for their actions'.

When they came out of court, one of them, Daniel Chrapkowski gleefully punched the air with both hands and danced on the steps, while his accomplice Thomas Lane made an obscene gesture and squared up to reporters and photographers.

The victim in this case, was repeatedly punched and kicked in the face and stomach for asking the offenders to stop throwing bins around in the street. He spent more than 40 hours undergoing X-rays and scans as well as emergency treatment for his injuries. He suffered a badly fractured jaw and a bleed on the brain, and was forced to have a metal plate fitted into his face.

It is very hard to look at this as a carefully considered sentence according to the circumstances. Of course the government will look to popularise itself with the electorate but I think on this occasion they are listening to a growing sense of unease amongst the majority that sentencing is way, way too soft,”

“Thank you Draystone, very informative and I am sure you realise I was being flippant in my previous post. I know it is the Government proposal, but this "bleeding heart liberal" wonders why the Government has so little faith in its judiciary that it thinks it necessary to interfere in their sentencing policies by substituting a "one size fits all" for "carefully considered sentence according to the circumstances". There really aren't too many soft judges, so presumably this is another attempt to popularise itself by the Govt.”

“Wind your neck in Tony old son, they are not my ideas, I am simply stating what the government is planning.

In answer to your question, the expression 'bleeding heart liberal' was introduced into political usage in the thirties by columnist Westbrook Pegler. Its origin may be the Order of the Bleeding Heart, a semi-religious order of the Middle Ages honouring the Virgin Mary, whose 'heart was pierced with many sorrows.'”

“A paltry four months in a holiday-camp nick being waited on hand and foot by warders, Draystone? What these thugs need is to be taken outside, shot in the kneecaps, and then have both arms chopped off with a rusty axe so they can never threaten anyone again. And then, (but only if they've been good) let them out after five years.

Looks like you're the "bleeding heart liberal" with those namby pamby ideas!

Seriously, where did that ridiculous phrase originate? Why is anyone who thinks a little more deeply than the surface tarred with such a brush?”

“Although I agree that the proportion of people jailed for carrying a knife in England and Wales is not great, despite the government rhetoric on the subject, the latest figure of those jailed for possessing a knife or offensive weapon is actually 21% (most recent Ministry of Justice figures - July to September 2011).

The main reason for having knife amnesties is not so much about the volume of knives surrendered as the photo opportunity it presents, thus keeping the issue in the public eye - its actually the media that love a picture of plod holding a kitchen knife!

The government is currently amending the Legal Aid & Sentencing Bill to require a minimum sentence of a four-month Detention and Training Order for 16- and 17-year-olds convicted of threatening people with knives but this could mean that hundreds of extra teenagers will be given custodial sentences every year and I suspect that the bleeding-heart liberal brigade (no pun intended) will consider this too high a price to pay to make our streets safe.”

“Whilst I'm totally in favour of the initiative, I take it the failure to give any figures for the number of knives surrendered means it hasn't been as successful as was hoped....”

“A national newspaper used the freedom of information act and found out that less one percent of people found carrying knives are given custodial sentences. That is how seriously we take knife crime in this country. However plod does like his photo opportunity to pose with a few kitchen knives.”