Selby driver jailed for five years
Perhaps someone can tell me what is accomplished by throwing this man in prison? I'm not implying that he wasn't negligent, but what's the point of incarceration in this case?
- Rehabilitation - This man is not a danger to society. He's not going to do it again in a few days. Prison won't make him a better member of society, in fact it's likely to do the opposite.
- Deterrence - Another silly argument. People don't stay awake at the wheel because they're worried about going to prison. People stay awake at the wheel because they're afraid of crashing and dying in a fireball.
- Punishment - should not be the purpose of a prison, first of all. And the man's crime was falling asleep at the wheel. If we are to have any consistency in our laws, wouldn't that mean that anybody who fell asleep at the wheel should suffer the same sentence? His actions were no different from somebody who falls asleep at the wheel and hits a tree.
- Retribution - should have no place in a civilised justice system. Yes, the relatives want to satisfy some sort of thirst for revenge. No, this should have no bearing on the sentence. The purpose of the courts isn't to satisfy public opinion.
So why spend tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayer money to put this man in prison? What is served by doing so?
We need to examine the reasoning behind the judicial system. Evidently people are so caught up in the mechanics of the courts that we've lost sight of why we imprison people in the first place.