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This is infact a reiteration of a post of mine to the telegraph blog.
From all the excitement about Philip’s murderer, it would appear that deporting him to Italy was accepted by both the family and perhaps Jack Straw as part of his punishment. I know several people who would willingly take his place and who regard Italy as a sort of Paradise on Earth.
From what information is available to us, I tend to agree with the tribunal that he should not be deported. There is no great hardship in going to Italy; he can return to the UK as a citizen of an EU country whenever he pleases and he will not be allowed to starve to death on the streets of Rome fi he does not find a job.
What should be causing the outcry is the idea that a life sentence for murder is often little more than a dozen years in jail. From a sentence of “death by hanging” to “have a sabbatical for a few years” has occurred in my lifetime. A substantial bank robbery now often attracts a heavier sentence. Mind you that was ever thus, if one recalls the draconian sentences meted out to the great train robbers. Let’s have a Home Secretary who is prepared to up the tarriff for violent murder of a stranger to a point that actually does remove the murderer from society for most of his or her 70 years and ten.
