Why the hell was Essa Suleiman free to walk the streets?

[MaturingCheeseball]

Regardless of who he was targeting, why was a person who in 2008 had stabbed a policeman and his dog wandering freely round ? I see that his custodial sentence back then was just “to be released if he is no longer considered a danger to the public”. Well, someone considered wrong, didn’t they? Because he was a horrible danger to the public.

I’m sure like most people I’m sick of “lessons will be learned” as dangerous individuals are allowed to roam the streets - like the murderer of three in Nottingham. I’m also sick of people saying it’s money/in-patient beds etc - no. Just remove these people from the public sphere. Of course you can’t predict future violent actions in a previously non-violent person, but in the case of the Golders Green man surely stabbing a policeman and his dog means that he should not have been free less than 2O years later.

I don’t know what the typical term is for stabbing a policeman but it’s clear he was not reformed. I wonder how long he was in and when he was released.

like the murderer of three in Nottingham. I’m also sick of people saying it’s money/in-patient beds etc - no. Just remove these people from the public sphere

That’s contradictory. They need to be put somewhere and there is a lack of places to put them. I believe that’s what people who mention money / in-patient beds are saying.

Looking at the summary's of what happened with the Nottingham killer my immediate response was 'poor services for poor people'

Personally I suggest that we should look at what happens in the Netherlands where serious offenders either get intensive rehabilitation in the Community or placed in secure hospitals with detention regularly reviewed by a judge.

Some might serve less time, others a lot more if they are ever released.

Sadly, this is the state of mental health services in this country now. It's incredibly difficult to get help and many many people slip through the net because they 'refuse to engage' (because they are too ill to understand they need help!)

Wait till you hear about how short sentences are after even worse crimes than stabbing.

Basically no matter what the crime is, most criminals are walking the streets 18y later (unless they do another crime and get locked up again).

I don't think it's OK either.

It's a lack of investment in mental health services. And prisons that fail to even try to rehabilitate people because it's cheaper to just chuck them in a cell.