DV ON THE BBC
I'm due on the BBC's Nolan Show just after 9am to discuss a new report which criticises the the treatment of prisoners at Northern Ireland's young offenders centre. Inspectors who visited the centre in November said it did not perform effectively against any of four tests used to assess conditions. They found that prisoners, including juveniles, were routinely strip-searched and unnecessarily handcuffed - and that there was a failure to investigate incidents of bullying. It quotes the example of one juvenile who was effectively confined to his cell for six weeks and denied a visit from his mother because of a minor row with a member of staff.
My heart bleeds for them. Listen, it's time we STOPPED obsessing about the criminals and focused instead on the needs of the victims of crime. These individuals have been convicted of committing crime - and they have been sent to this centre for punishment. It should not be a holiday camp. I could not care less if they find it difficult. In fact the MORE DIFFICULT they find it there the better. This might make them think twice before committing further crime. I also dispute the use of the word "children" to describe those inmates under 18. If you are 16, you can join the army and serve your country. You can have sex, have children and claim welfare. Calling such young adults " children" is another liberal rhetorical device aimed at making us feel pity for them. These young thugs are exactly that and liberal reports like this show how rotten our criminal justice system has become. The only way to prevent crime is to make sure that would be criminals realise they will be caught and they will be punished.
Talk to you all later...
David Vance
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Reader Comments (28)
Who are you up against?
Monica? lol!
UPDATE: Didn't get on.Too many callers agree with me!
What do you think of the shopowner on the Newtownards road, selling 'fenian flags' (tricolours to burn at £5?)
Do you think he should be subjected to the criminal justice system for incitement to hatred, or only supplying demand for the local bonfires?
Gosh!,
I'll go up and buy one to put on my wall. If anyone asks where I got it, I can say "the Newtonards Road"!!
David,
I agree with you up to a point. But the instances of bullying should be investigated thoroughly.
Reg,
I think there was more to it than bullying. Poor food, overuse of handcuffs by staff,little educational opportunities, no resettlement programme and locked up twenty hours a day, which is pretty inhumane. Staff shortages, one in ten on sick leave.....and on and on. But especially the fact that things had got worse since the last report a few years ago.
This is a damning report and someones head should roll for the deteroriation within the last two and a half years at least.
I'll go up and buy one to put on my wall. If anyone asks where I got it, I can say "the Newtonards Road"!!
Good one Reg - a collectors item!!
The poor dears. Their nutritional programme not good enough, not enough education provision..oh the agony. My ONLY criticism is conditions are too soft for these thugs.
'What do you think of the shopowner on the Newtownards road, selling 'fenian flags' (tricolours to burn at £5?)'
Some culture eh?
"What do you think of the shopowner on the Newtownards road, selling 'fenian flags' (tricolours to burn at £5?)"
Capitalist pig!
Reublican Stones:
Sands was a convicted arsonist whose coffin was draped in the said flag. The UJ shop is trying to generate profit's whilst the brave Bobby set out to destroy a business. Loyalists will burn a flag whilst republicans worship a man who wanted to burn humans. Some culture...
David: No need in creating a dangerous breeding ground for further anti-social behavior among juvenile offenders. i am not saying they should get plasma tv's and gourmet meals, but sensible policing of detention centers is important.
What has Bobby Sands got to do with a shop selling tricolours for burning?
Mahons,
Don't disagree. Lawful inside and outside is fine by me.
RS,
Only Ian knows!
The only connection I can make is that John Hume's father always said "you can't eat a flag" (meaning the Tricolour) and Bobby Sands went on hunger strike.
Was Bobby not fond of burning furniture shops as opposed to flags? But maybe that was his culture eh?
One man denotes a culture? How so?
"Was Bobby not fond of burning furniture shops as opposed to flags? But maybe that was his culture eh?"
So Ian,
You're saying that one night a year, "de fenians" go round burning furniture shops as part of their "culture". I must have missed this startling development.
One shop denotes a culture to you. Did you feign mock outrage when the flag was used to cover the coffin of the Shankhill bomber or is outrage reserved for someone trying to earn a living by selling them?
Crikey Ian,
In a discussion on selling the Irish flag to be burnt on bonfires (a tangent from the original thread itself I'll admit) you have managed to bring in both Bobby Sands and the Shankill bombers!
It was a thread on Young Offenders Institutions in N. Ireland til you started discussing your shopping list for the day :-). Hope you got there quickly as I hear the PSNI stopped the shop selling them.
It's alright. I already have one!
Ian brning tricolurs is part of the 11th night culture. its only through recent concerted efforts by various community leaders that this custom is being addressed. Unfortunately this shop thinks there is still enough demand for such business. If you think we should be outraged at the tricolour, you must similarily be outraged at the sight of a union jack, considering the far more numerous atrocities carried out in Ireland under that particular banner.
And the culture of the republican movement is to drape the coffins of its members in the Irish tricolour. If I were an Irishman I would worry more about my flag being used at the funeral of murderers and arsonists than I would about it appearing on top of a bonfire.
nicely avoided
As you've avoided my questions during the thread. Still I will look for your condemnation the next time a Palestinian is shown on TV burning an Israeli / American flag.
Why would i condemn that, Israel has stolen land is continually aided and abetted by the USA. From the officla governments represented by those flags. Unfortunately for you, the Irish government has never stolen anything belonging to unionists. However history shows that indeed the irish can share an empathy with the palestinians.
I thought republicans like you saw the army council of the ira as the government of Ireland. They have stolen the lives of many Unionists.
Obviously unaware of your history there Ian. I suggest you go away and look up the period where Sinn Fein dropped abstentionism in the south. LMAO. Offical British forces have stolen many more lives of Irishmen, under the unionjack. So no doubt you balk at the sight of a union jack.