Merseyside police chief defends use of cautions

Mar 5 2008 by Liza Williams, Liverpool Daily Post

MERSEYSIDE’S Chief Constable said the use of cautions in Merseyside is the lowest in the country last night.

Bernard Hogan-Howe was talking in response to a the Daily Post report yesterday which revealed cautions had been used for offences including GBH, sexual assault on a male under 13 and burglary in the region.

But Mr Hogan-Howe said the use of cautions was an effective deterrent and reduces reoffending.

He emphasised individual circumstances of each case can reduce or aggravate offences, and added cautions are only issued for non serious crimes, often when it is a first offence and the perpetrator is young.

He said: “The caution rate in Merseyside is relatively low, in fact it is the lowest in the country. If cautioning is perceived as a poor way of dealing with offences the Merseyside area could not be criticised.

“Cautioning generally can be an effective step in the right circumstances.

“The research shows that 70% of people receiving police cautions do not re-offend. Most of them are young people who do not reappear in the criminal justice system.”

He said that the wording of an offence can often make a crime sound graver than the reality and cited a case where a caution was issued for an indecent assault of a girl under 16.

He explained: “We have examples where two young people have been together in a tent and there was an indecent assault.

“They were in a previous existing relationship and the parents wished to pursue the issue but on balance it was decided a caution would be the most appropriate outcome.”

Mr Hogan-Howe emphasised that the police had never issued a caution for the offence of murder of a child under one.

There had been an error in the recording of the case.

In reality, he said, the investigation had cleared the suspect of murder, but during the course of the inquiry cannabis was found in the property, and the suspect had been given a caution for possession of the drug.

And the force has recently successfully persuaded ministers to rule out cautions for weapon offences in Merseyside, a step Mr Hogan-Howe says illustrates the flexibility of the system, a system the Ministry of Justice should continue to guide:

“I think it is correct for the Government to set guidelines. There are 44 Crown Prosecution Service areas in the country and consistency is needed.”

Neither does Mr Hogan-Howe think the issuing of cautions has a link with British prisons being full to capacity: “I understand the concern but when you look at statistics cautions have not increased or decreased as the prison population has increased.

He added: “The current system is far better than it was 10 years ago.

“Multiple cautions do not happen now and most people do not re-offend.

“If they do, far better to give one caution then move on to more serious steps.”

lizawilliams