THE story of prolific teenage criminal Scott Asquith shows the failings of our judicial system.
Asquith has a long criminal record yet is only 19 years old.
He was jailed for 18 months in February last year – but by last September was out on the streets again and had committed his second serious robbery in less than a year.
And in both robberies his victims were left with psychological damage.
Asquith had, in the past, been involved in other street muggings and had been convicted of breaching anti-social behaviour orders.
This is a youngster clearly out of control for some time and yet this does not seem to have been identified and properly dealt with in a bid to stop his offending and more people becoming victims.
He may have served time on remand when he received his 18 months in February – but even then it’s hard to accept that he should have been released that summer on licence.
He should have been closely monitored and concerns about his behaviour picked up yet he went on to commit a very similar robbery – even after he had admitted in court he was a bully.
Cases like this do shatter the public’s faith in the system.
It goes back to the same old argument. If someone is given 18 months behind bars, why don’t they serve 18 months?
