Letter: Justice has swung towards the accused against the victim

There was a time when you picked up a newspaper to read that Mr X or Mrs Y had been jailed for serious criminal offences.

Of late the headlines more often than not inform us that Mr X and Mrs Y have avoided jail for serious criminal offences.

Whereas a defendant is entitled to the best legal defence, some of the 'Cock and Bull' put forward seeking reduced sentences and bail applications maybe acceptable to the judiciary but they are an insult to the intelligence of wider society.

As a democrat I am not questioning the independence of the judiciary, however I do question the competence of a judicial system where the balance of justice has swung in favour of the accused as opposed to the victim.

Even when magistrates complain that serious criminal cases should not appear in their courts, but in higher courts where the tariff for the crime is much higher, the magistrates’ complaints appear to fall on deaf ears.

I believe that Northern Ireland society is being conditioned into accepting a poor criminal justice service and that the threat of the full force of the law been thrown at criminals doesn't leave too many 'shaking in their boots'.

Gerry Cullen, Dungannon