Member

That is why I strongly backed the then Home Secretary—now my noble friend Lord Howard of Lympne—on our “Three strikes and you’re out policy”, although it would be more accurately called a “Three strikes and you’re inside” policy. I was hated by all prison detractors, but it worked in reducing crime because it took out of circulation the most prolific offenders. Of course, we should not lock up children who have committed their first few minor offences—proper community intervention can work for them. But every police area I visited had the same story: the superintendent would show me a graph of crime stats that was relatively level, and then it would spike to five or 10 times the average, with over 1,000 extra offences in one case. Then it would come down again after a few months. In every case, they would say that the spike was when little Johnny was released from the young offender institution, and the low level was when he was taken back or moved away.