When justice goes missing in the United Kingdom penal system

Sometimes you have to wonder about our penal system. Take the case of Stephen Mitchell. After growing up in a Glasgow tower block, Mitchell served in the 1st Battalion, Queen’s Highlanders, where he was known as “Pervy Steve.”

Quitting the army, he joined Northumbria Police and preyed on women he met while on duty in a police station in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne. Investigators say he raped and sexually abused some 30 women who were being investigated for shoplifting or drug offences.

TWO RAPES

In January 2011, Mitchell stood trial on 16 charges and was found guilty of two rapes, three indecent assaults and six cases of misconduct in public office. Detectives say there were another 14 suspected victims but the evidence was not strong enough to prosecute.

Mitchell was given a sentence of life imprisonment and told by the trial judge, “You will be released, if at all, if the Parole Board has concluded it is safe and in the public interest. That may not be for many years, if forever.”

SEVEN YEARS

But it emerged last week that Mitchell, now 50, was freed in September last year after spending not life, but less than seven years in jail.

MP Yvette Cooper called for the decision to be reviewed. “This case is incomprehensible,” she said.

Now take Steven Sciberras, who is still in prison 15 years after receiving a sentence of 21 months. He was 24 when in 2005, also in Newcastle, he stabbed a bus passenger, cutting his face, for no apparent reason. Judge Beatrice Bolton set a minimum jail term of 21 months and said, “This means you will not be released until it is deemed safe by the Parole Board.”

INSTITUTIONALISED

Sciberras was sentenced under a system, now abolished, known as IPP, Imprisonment for Public Protection. An alternative to life sentences, IPPs meant that a prisoner could be locked up indefinitely but courts were required to set a minimum term after which the prisoner could be considered for parole.

Scibberas is now 37 and his mother, Karen McCall, said, “I think he has been institutionalised. He is not even trying to get out. People have served less time than this for murder.”

A spokesman said only that the Parole Board was working to release as many IPP prisoners as possible.

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Remember Fred Higgins, who won £57.9 million on the National Lottery? Fred is 67, his wife is 57. They have bought a new car and are thinking of getting a second home abroad.

Callie Rogers says she wishes she had been like the Higginses when she won £1.8 million on the Lottery. The trouble was she was only 16, a shop assistant in Cockermouth, Cumbria, and she thought the money would last forever.

She spent £18,000 on breast enhancement surgery, £300,000 on clothes and £500,000 on gifts for friends. Before she knew it, the money was all gone.

Callie, now 31 and a mother of three, said last week the age limit for playing the Lottery should be raised. “At 16, you’re just a child and then suddenly overnight you’ve got to become an adult.”

She made countless friends but “it became too much,” not knowing who liked her for herself and who liked her for the money. This led to depression, but she says “I’m a lot better now.”

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A couple of weeks ago we mentioned how a German man, Hartmut Kariuki-Mueller, and his Kenyan wife, Beth, arranged for Kabati village in Murang’a County to get piped water. However, the generator broke down early this year and they are looking for help to solve the problem.

Hartmut reports that he received many e-mailed responses at [email protected], including an offer from Senator Irungu Kang’ata to put him in touch with responsible elected officials who have access to funds.

He will advise when and if a solution is in sight and villagers no longer have to walk seven miles for water.

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Jokes start here:

A guy was charged with murder and his friends decided they must try to get him off. Secretly, they approached a jury man who looked pretty dim but hugely strong, and gave him £10,000 to persuade his fellow jurors to reduce the charge to manslaughter.

When the verdict came in as they requested, the bribe-givers quietly thanked the big man. He said, “It wasn’t easy to convince the rest of the jury to change the charge to manslaughter. They all thought he was not guilty and wanted to let him go.”

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Joe, Jock and Mick were lined up for execution by firing squad. As the rifles were raised against Joe, he shouted “Tornado.” Everybody looked wildly around and he escaped. Next was Jock. At the crucial moment, he shouted “Earthquake.” In the confusion, Jock fled, too. Finally it was Mick’s turn. He yelled, “Fire.”

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