§ 3.2 p.m.
§ Lord Rowallanasked Her Majesty's Government:
How they intend to deal with paedophiles and other disordered people who are released from prison but who represent a danger to the public; and whether they are satisfied with the arrangement of keeping Sidney Cooke in a police station to protect him from vigilantes.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Williams of Mostyn)My Lords, the main consideration is and must be to protect the public. New measures in the Crime and Disorder Bill, in particular the sex offender order and the extended supervision of sex offenders, will help to provide that protection. Sidney Cooke has agreed to be under 24-hour supervision and to be tagged.
We have been considering whether new machinery is necessary to assist in the handling of cases such as that of Sidney Cooke. The Home Secretary has instructed officials to convene a group including representatives of the Association of Chief Officers of Probation and the Association of Chief Police Officers together with sex offender treatment specialists to take forward this work. The group, which we expect to start work soon, will be charged to identify high profile, difficult-to-place sex offenders in prison and assess their release plans, oversee their handling and consider any funding necessary to meet likely additional accommodation costs.
§ Lord RowallanMy Lords, I thank the Minister for that helpful Answer. I am extremely concerned that such people, having served the sentence for their crime, still pose a danger, as they admit. Will the Minister advise the House whether they should be released or spend the rest of their lives in gaol? Should the press be allowed to whip up vigilantes against them? Furthermore, is it right that taxpayers are spending almost £5,000 a week to keep Sidney Cooke in a police cell away from the vigilantes?
§ Lord Williams of MostynMy Lords, those are important questions. The release of a particular offender is entirely dependent on the sentence originally passed. It is a well known constitutional convention that matters of sentence are for trial judges and not for politicians, and I believe that that is proper.
I take the noble Lord's point about the press. The Government's view is that it is much better for people such as Sidney Cooke to be managed carefully without whipping up undue public fears, in particular when those fears are based on inaccurate information. I am sure everyone would deprecate attacks on police officers, for instance, who are doing their public duty in attempting to safeguard public order, security and safety.
§ Lord DholakiaMy Lords, will the Minister congratulate Paddy Ashdown on the way he handled a difficult meeting in Yeovil? Will he confirm that the Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset is satisfied with the control of Sidney Cooke while under his supervision? Although I welcome the setting up of the group to 480 examine the policy for dealing with paedophiles, does the Minister agree that the public needs immediate government plans about the post-release supervision of paedophiles and an undertaking that funds will be forthcoming from central government to meet expenses incurred by police forces in accommodating such people?
§ Lord Williams of MostynMy Lords, I believe that Paddy Ashdown behaved properly, courageously and rightly. The arrangements that have been made with Sidney Cooke are the best that can be made in all the circumstances. The noble Lord asked for an immediate response about funding and treatment. The group has been set up and we ought to await its recommendations before blundering into short-term solutions which may not be of long-term use.
§ Lord AcknerMy Lords, does the Minister recall that during the passage of the Crime (Sentences) Bill frequent reference was made to the report in 1975 of the Butler Committee on mentally disordered offenders? The suggestion was that a new indeterminate sentence should be created called a "reviewable" sentence so that those who were still a danger were not released from prison until the review declared that it was appropriate, and that the review should take place every two years. Does the Minister agree that if those recommendations had been in place none of the present anxieties would have occurred? Will he now take urgent action to see whether there should be legislation to put into force either Lord Butler's recommendation or similar measures for a new indeterminate sentence?
§ Lord Williams of MostynMy Lords, I recall the debates we had on the occasion to which the noble and learned Lord refers. If a reviewable sentence had been available and had been passed on Sidney Cooke, some of the present difficulties might have been avoided. Serious and urgent consideration is taking place in the Home Office for further legislation in the light of policy development along the general lines to which the noble and learned Lord referred.
My Lords, I have about half a second. No one has welcomed back the noble Baroness, Lady Trumpington.