Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Jeremy Corbyn and Lord Herbert of South Downs

Tuesday 13th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Nick Herbert]

Yes, I am happy to go away and look at them.

[Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Lab)]

Does the Minister think that restorative justice and guiding people away from the criminal justice system would be a more appropriate way of dealing with the minority of young people who were peripherally involved in disturbances last August, rather than the large number of long sentences that have been handed out to them, with all the obvious consequences for them?

[Nick Herbert]

We do not see restorative justice as an alternative to the criminal justice system; we want to see it embedded in that system. The idea of offenders making amends to victims is a good one, but we have to remember that the figures show that three quarters of those brought before the courts in relation to the riots had previous convictions and that a quarter of them had been in prison before. Perhaps people were caught up in those riots, but a great number of those involved had been in trouble with the law before and we should remember that.