BOOK REVIEWS:
JUDGEMENT IMPAIRED
Law, Disorder & Injustice to Victims in 21st Century Britain
By Michael Hughes, published by Hande-Cuffe Publications Limited, October 2005
"This book should be a "must" for all Politicians, Judges and Police Authorities in this
country.
It deals in understandable language, and a common sense attitude,with a variety of
crimes which decent, law-abiding people should know about.
The view of cases given by the author are based on fact and his conclusions are
objective and fair.
He deals with the judicial decisions of Judges and Magistrates in such a way that
none of them could complain that he has been prejudiced or biased even if they
disagree with his comments. We live in a democracy!
I found this book fascinating and informative and have no hesitation in saying-read it!"
His Honour Keith Matthewman QC - Retired Judge - Nottingham Crown Court
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"Since the death penalty was abolished, offences of unlawful homicide have quadrupled and, in the past decade, violent offences have doubled. Many would identify a correlation between these disturbing facts and the constant liberalisation of penal measures designed to keep the prison population down.
There will be many police officers and, unquestionably, great swathes of the general public who perceive that the thinking of the legislature is seriously out of kilter with their understandable expectation that the law should afford them adequate protection and criminals should receive punishments that are commensurate with the gravity of their crimes.
Judgement Impaired tackles these issues head-on and offers penetrating criticism of the piecrust promises of politicians and the ineffectiveness of the magistracy and judiciary in dispensing justice in a manner in which the punishment fits the crime and public expectations are satisfied.
The author of the work, a retired police officer, does not offer it as an academic treatise but as a factual work which examines numerous cases of homicide, rape, violence, robbery, dishonesty, damage and road traffic offences.
Judgement Impaired also focuses on the sometimes horrible consequences of early prison release schemes and decisions which result in dangerous criminals with a high risk of re-offending being prematurely released from prison. In this regard it is odd that Home Secretary Charles Clarke should announce an -inquiry into only a single case - the tragic Monckton murder case - when Judgement Impaired offers a catalogue of similar cases.
The book examines crime and its consequences through the eyes of victims and those of the many many police officers who firmly believe in punishment, retribution and in a judicial and penal system that is geared to protecting the public.
The book lays bare the falsity of claims that the Government is tough on crime and the causes of crime.
Idealists, many of whom have never set eyes on a well-seasoned criminal let alone a recidivist, who promote Utopian notions such as reparation as a sensible means of dealing with criminals, should find Judgement Impaired uncomfortable reading, as the author clearly has no respect for what he thinks are airy-fairy, namby-pamby approaches to addressing crime. 
Judgement Impaired is a book which should be available at every police library, because it is a stark reminder of what policing should be all about. There is growing public and media disquiet over the fact that the Government and judicial and penal systems are failing to protect the public from the evils of crime and disorder.
Judgement Impaired provides compelling evidence of this and offers a persuasive argument in support of the notion that the day has now come for a Royal Commission on justice and the protection of the public to be appointed.
In the meantime, the work should be made compulsory reading for members of the Parole Board and, more importantly, the Sentencing Guidelines Council, a body which consistently demonstrates indifference to public expectations."
Review by David Pickover, legal editor of Police Review
( Reproduced with permission from Jane's Information Group - Jane's Police Review )
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"Tony Blair reneged on his promise to get "tough on crime". Direct pressure on the judiciary to hand down shorter sentences - ostensibly to reduce prison over-crowding, but in fact to avoid the cost of building additional prison facilities - was accompanied by a change in the law to allow the majority of convicted criminals to serve no more than half their often lenient sentences. To placate the public, such offenders are said to be released "under supervision" which, of course is complete nonsense. No probation officer can maintain a 24/7 watch on hardened criminals.
Whereas Government statistics and the fruits of research by University Departments of Criminology tend to be ignored very largely by the public at large, Michael Hughes's graphic descriptions of actual crimes and criminals and the often derisorily short nominal sentences awarded by the courts, allow the true facts to emerge for all to see.
It is shamefully apparent that the Government, aided and abetted by the courts, prefers to subordinate the human rights a long-suffering general public to the presumed rights of dangerous and hardened criminals. In a sane society the latter should be kept under lock and key for the protection of honest people instead of being re-cycled to rob and kill again and again."
Brian Whittngham
(Author of Taboo or not Taboo...that is the Question)
4th December 2006
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"Judgement Impaired is an honest and frank account of the trials and tribulations of a serving police officer, untainted by political management speak which is often designed to hide the dreadful truth about crime and criminals in the UK today.
Mike Hughes leaves the reader in no doubt as to the scale and nature of crime being committed in the UK, and the unrealistic and sometimes callous indifference of the criminal justice system to its victims and the general public. Whilst praise is given where it is due, this book shows how unrealistic are the attitudes of many of our most senior judges and illustrates how they have failed to grasp the true nature of the criminals they continually protect.
Most of our sentencing policies are dominated by the unrealistic ideology of the anti-prison factions, which have caused an ever growing rift between the ordinary public and the forces of law and order. This book provides a healthy antidote to these unwanted developments. Page after page demonstrates that crime is not the product of social and psychological pressures for which the criminal needs 'help' , but are dangerous, greedy, selfish acts committed as a matter of free choice by criminals who need to be stopped and imprisoned, so the public can be protected from them.
This book shoukl be required reading for everyone working in or associated with the Criminal Justice System, as well as the general public."
David Fraser
Criminal Justice researcher and author
Former Senior Probation Officer
Former Criminal Intelligence Analyst with the National Criminal Intelligence Service
Chairman of SAFER (Stop All Forms of Early Release)
Co-Director of the Campaign for Real Justice
December 2006
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Judgement Impaired,
Law, Disorder and injustice to victims in 21" Century Britain
Michael Hughes
"Unfortunately due to the late arrival of this book I have not had time to read it in any great detail. With some 800 pages I have only been able to dip into this publication however Michael Hughes has put into print much of what is said and thought by the great unheard, that is the vast majority of people who don't make a fuss and just get on with their lives in a law abiding manner. Fortunately or unfortunately for them they do not have the overwhelming experiences of the average police officer to give them any impetus to stand up and be heard. After reading this book I think that they may. It would be easy to dismiss this book as just another ex Copper having a rant however the detail put into the content is painstaking, meticulous and compelling. Mr Hughes is an ex Detective with many years of experience. As with all ex coppers and probably anyone else connected with the process his experience has left him with an abiding realization that the criminal justice system is about anything but justice, either for the criminal and certainly not for the victim. Mr Hughes begins his book with an indictment against the government and in particular Prime Minister Tony Blair and ex Home Secretary David Blunkett. The phrase 'We will be tough on crime and the causes of crime' is used as the starting point where Mr Hughes gradually proves the complete nonsense peddled by this government on Law & Order reform as just more hot air to gain power. The chapters cover a particular crime each listed as a separate indictment. Hughes also covers specific criminal cases and the gradual decay of conduct and morals in today's society. This is typified by the frequent lapses in decent behaviour by persons in the public eye in whom many people tend to emulate. The failure of police to respond in an appropriate manner is caused by a lack of funds and more often by politically correct (and ambitious) senior police officers. The exploits of certain headlining criminals and yobboes the system seems unable to deal with are documented as is the behaviour of youngsters binge drinking in town centres. What this book illustrates is what we are all aware of, that law and order is gradually breaking down in such an insidious way that there is never enough to pin down on the government of the day. The do gooders and hindsight technicians frequently point out the failings of a beleaguered and under funded police force instead of looking at the system and how recidivist offenders are again and again let off the hook to re-offend through an incompetent or naive judiciary. In fairness the book is not all negative and a chapter titled In Praise of the Judiciary points out good practice; lastly the author himself makes some common sense suggestions to alleviate the situation. This will not a comfortable book for those in power to take in and Mr Hughes has attempted to cover all the angles thus making it a long read. Unfortunately I feel that its sheer size would put many ordinary people off and at £30 it is not cheap. For this reason I doubt that many ordinary people will buy it however if it is read by the right people who knows, it might well make a difference.
Chris Forester Editor The Journal of the Police History Society
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JUDGEMENT IMPAIRED
Law, Disorder and Injustice in 21st Century Britain
by Michael Hughes
"This massive volume puts into print what so many of us have for so long believed. Let the Director of the Victims of Crime Trust summarise its contents: "Reading this book will allow you to see through the eyes of a police officer the uphill fight for justice. It details why it is the very criminal justice system itself, to which we all look for protection, that fails us all so badly."
The government is indicted on 24 counts, ranging right through from burglary to homicide, calling at all stations in between. It is a truly horrific catalogue of crime and injustice resulting from the unwillingness of our political classes to see things as they really are. If you cannot afford a copy then ask your library to buy one. It should be freely available."
(808pp, hardback).
By P.P.W. Assistant Editor THIS ENGLAND - Britain's Loveliest Magazine
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