Quintin Jardine's blog

One downer this season; I’m sorry if anyone finds this upsetting but it needs to be told.

There is a story doing the rounds where I live about a house-breaking in a neighbouring village, in the course of which the felons took the family puppy from its cage and killed it.

I find this tale particularly heinous since it comes at a time when Police Scotland seems to be devoting unlimited man-hours to enforcing the new 50mg blood alcohol driving limit.

I am in no way in favour of drunk, or even mildly impaired, driving, but any study will show that victims of housebreakings far outnumber those affected by motorists who are mildly over the limit. In that event, it seems to me that policing priorities are in need of a reappraisal and that the public would be better served by a higher profile in at risk areas, even if it does some at the expense of the breathalyser stats

The unlamented (in my house) departure of the former Justice Secretary gives the Scottish Government an opportunity for a fresh look at crime and punishment. As a first step, and as a matter of urgency, I would like to see the introduction of a mandatory minimum five year no parole tariff  for first offender housebreakers, with stepped-up penalties for recidivists.