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Crime - Are We Tough Enough?

Series 1

The Courts

Duration: 44 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC One HDLatest broadcast: on BBC One Wales HD

Available for years

Chris Daw QC and solicitor Ayesha Nayyar look at how Britain's courts are handling law and order. Ayesha thinks the system should be prosecuting more, getting higher conviction rates and sending those found guilty to prison for longer. Chris, on the other hand, thinks we're already doing all that, and it's not working. He thinks we need to be sending fewer people to jail and for shorter periods. Instead, he believes, the legal system needs to look at solutions that can keep people out of the courts in the first place, such as regulating drugs.

Chris sends Ayesha to meet former undercover drugs cop Neil Woods, who now thinks that all drugs should be legalised. Only then, he argues, will you take the market away from organised crime and reduce the violence that comes from illegal activity. In return, Ayesha sends Chris to meet former front line police officer Norman Brennan, who agrees with her when it comes to cracking down on crime. He thinks the CPS should be renamed the 'Criminal Protection Service' and argues that defence lawyers like Chris are part of the problem. Show less

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