Crime & punishment

With the news yesterday that the Government in Great Britain plans to replace ASBOs http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12378755 and growing public disdain at lenient sentences for offenders, let’s talk a little bit about suitable punishment and justice for criminals.

Here in the UK, if you want to see the crime rates for your area/street/postcode etc and what type of crimes are being committed, it’s quite simple. Go to: http://www.police.uk/

This lets you see what type of crimes are being reported in your area. Note the use of the word reported. OK, great. But what happens to these people? Do these figures show arrests or convictions? No.

How many crimes go unreported due to lack of faith in the justice system? You’ve done it yourself, admit it. (be careful there!) You have a garage or shed broken into, a bike stolen, your car damaged etc. You report it to obtain a crime number for insurance purposes, but you don’t really expect anyone to be caught do you? Or that your property will be returned?

Let’s move on to more serious crimes. The forthcoming Snow White Series will deal with all sorts. Drugs, people trafficking, murder, rape (poor Cass eh?) and lots more besides. OK, it’s fictional, but we all now that unfortunately, we live in a society where these crimes are all too real.

Does the punishment fit the crime? Are sentences long enough? Do offenders receive the right kind of help, early enough (see my earlier post on Robert Black)https://saffinadesforges.wordpress.com/2011/01/05/child-killers/

How do you feel as a mother, father, carer, teacher or just a tax-paying member of the public? Are you confident that crime is dealt with effectively or would you like to see more Draconian punishment doled out?

OR is evil just something you’re born with? Stay safe.

Saffina

Glorious villain

I just Tweeted about watching ‘Cape Fear’ again the other night and what a great part Robert De Niro plays as Max Cady.

He is your ultimate bad guy right?

In Sugar & Spice, Uncle Tom is the main ‘baddie’ but there are other villains.  Some in positions of trust, they just don’t get caught…

In Book One of the forthcoming Snow White Series, The Huntsman is the obvious antagonist, and main target for our protag, Cass White; but he hides behind the real villain of the piece, Queenie.

They say conflict sells a story. Put your hero in a situation, give them a goal, then put things in the way – constantly. We all love a book that has a happy ending right?

Most crime-thillers end with the capture or termination of the bad guy (or gal!), but what about the ones that got away?

I suppose that is why Hannibal Lecter had such appeal.

“I’ve no plans to call on you, Clarice. The world is more interesting with you in it.”

Saffina

 

Sugar & Spice makes the Top 30 on Amazon UK Thriller Chart!

Great news folks.

After a great first full month of sales, Sugar & Spice is now in the Top 250 paid books on Amazon UK and in the top 30 Paid Thrillers!

It has also just received its 6th 5 Star review in a row!

Big thanks to everyone who has downloaded it so far.  Please make sure that you leave a review and tags if possible, it all helps!

Saffina

Monster at McDonald’s

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3378445/SEX-beast-who-attacked-brothers-in-a-McDonalds-is-jailed.html

In keeping with the article that I ran earlier, what do you make of this? Again, previously convicted…

Monster or a cry for help? Discuss…

Playing with the boys

Well, what a week Andy Gray and Richard Keys have had over at Sky.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jan/25/andy-gray-sacked-sky

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/01/27/richard-keys-quits-and-blames-dark-forces-at-sky-for-forcing-him-and-andy-gray-out-115875-22878360/

Allegations of sexism and ‘inappropriate behaviour’ coupled with comments made about a female football official have brought their relationship with Sky to an abrupt end.

In Book One of our new Crime-thriller series, Snow White, the protagonist is DCI Cass White.

Promoted following the untimely murder of her superior, Bill Andrews, by The Huntsman (part of an underground, criminal cartel trying to get their hands on a priceless ruby apple with a huge diamond core and killing everyone who gets in their way in the process), Cass seeks to avenge his death by catching him and locking him up for life. She expects the support and loyalty of her team to help her do this; they have other ideas.

She is a woman in a position of authority in a man’s world and not all of them like it. Hey, Cass, get used to it!

Snow White deals with the obstacles that women face today when working in male dominated professions and follows the prejudice she encounters relating to her personal life too.

Snow White is a work of fiction, but just how real is this problem? How many of you girls out there have suffered similar issues? How many of the men have and would you dare admit it? How many of you are guilty of it?

We all like a laugh and a joke, at work and socially, but with new legislation such as The Equality Act 2010 and people being protected from unfair discrimination relating to disability, sexual orientation, age, religious beliefs etc, how far is too far and is it taking away people’s rights to an opinion and our freedom of speech?

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