Member of Parliament for Bexhill and Battle, Dr Kieran Mullan MP, recently appeared on two television broadcasts for GB news and Good Morning Britain, where he condemned the culture of excusing criminality that is creeping into the justice system.
After serving as a special constable for four years, Kieran has been appointed as Shadow Justice Minister. He argued that people who make the wrong choices which harm our community should be punished appropriately.
In both appearances Kieran drew attention to a recent case reported in the media where two convicted Class A Drug Dealers have been spared jail, after they cited low wages and being unemployed as mitigating circumstances in their defence.
As Shadow Justice minister Dr Mullan highlighted that he thought it right to refer this specific case to the ‘Unduly lenient sentence scheme’. This is a mechanism whereby sentences that are thought to be too lenient are referred to the Attorney General, who makes a judgment as to whether the sentence ought to be reviewed.
In the two interviews he placed an emphasis on the fact that we cannot keep making excuses for the choices people make. The vast majority of people across the country, like those in the constituency of Bexhill and Battle, make the right choices everyday regardless of their financial circumstances and do not turn to crime.
Whilst recognising that some people face ‘challenging circumstances’ Kieran stressed this case involved ‘serious offences’ and that we must ensure people are ‘properly punished’ by the Justice system.
Dr Mullan stressed that the justice system exists to work on our behalf, and that it is important the public see justice is done.
Dr Kieran Mullan, Member of Parliament for Bexhill and Battle, said:
- “we can’t make excuses for people when it comes to the choices they make, because that is insulting to everybody who makes better choices”
- “the justice system is there on our behalf … so that when we’re the victims of crime, we feel justice is done”
- “What has to come first is the message we send to the vast law abiding majority, the incentives we give for people to make the right choices and ensuring people are properly punished by our justice system’.
Watch Kieran's appearances on GB news and Good Morning Britain below:
