Is it right that we have to pay for these criminals to just disappear and forget the past? It costs approximately £250,000 to give a criminal a new identity. In some cases, very young offenders might not have been fully aware of their “crime” so it is better for them to get a new identity so that they can get a chance to grow up and start their life afresh. However, this doesn’t always happen for example in the Jon Venebles case. He re-offended and had to be re-imprisoned.
Those fighting for criminals to get a new identity have evidence supporting their cause. Many of them say that if the criminals are mentally ill, fully rehabilitated or were influenced by others then they should be given a second chance at life, after all they are only human.
A second chance will allow ex-criminals to start a new peaceful life, make new friends, marry and possibly even start a family if they no longer pose a threat to society. However if there is still a big possibility that they might re-offend or they allow themselves to be identified for publicity/financial gain then we should just let them out into the public and let them get what they’re given because after that’s what they deserve.
Another drawback would be that the criminals would be hiding away from the public and the victim’s family, and if it were me I would definitely want to know if I was living next door to a murderer.
The people fighting against criminals receiving a new identity would definitely disagree with the statement and would prefer criminals to have a lifetime sentence in prison. I personally believe that we should bring corporal punishment back to Scotland as it would give an “Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” so to speak. If a killer is given a second chance at life then what will stop him from killing again? Releasing a criminal back into society is a very big risk especially with gangland murders, because if someone is killed friends and family won’t just sit there and accept it and then a cycle of hatred and violence begins.
When you hear that a serious offender is being released into society then there are always all sorts of stories in the media and people want to take precautionary measures and if it were me I would definitely be scared so I think the public deserve to be told the truth.
So is it right that some criminals are given new identities after they have served their sentences? For me I think not. As I have stated before I think that corporal punishment should be re-instated in Scotland because I think that locking criminals up for a short time then letting them roam free somewhere else is not the best choice. No one has any right to make others suffer so why should we just let them go?
