Yet again, this week's news in Cardiff has been dominated by the aftermath of the Craig Sweeney case.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission report came out last week and partially supported the complaint made by the three-year-old girl's family that the police were not quick enough in their response to the family's 999 calls.
It is obvious that there was confusion - the way the case was classified from the beginning meant that the response was not as quick as it should have been.
I was pleased that Barbara Wilding, the Chief Constable of South Wales Police, went to see the family and apologised to them. I was also pleased they had a meeting last week with the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, about the fact that he did not refer the case to the court of appeal. He concluded that the judge in the case at Cardiff Crown Court had acted within existing guidelines.
As a result of this tragic case, there has been progress. Home Secretary John Reid has announced that sentencing guidelines will be changed so that there will no longer be an automatic third off for a guilty plea and that there will be no automatic consideration for parole after 50% of a life sentence has been served.
This makes sense.
We must try to imrpove the way the police and the criminal justice system works so that we can protect our children as much as we possibly can from such dangerous people.
And on policing matters ... to improve things, a new number has now been provided by the police and the local council where you can confidentially report problems that don't require a 999 call. Of course, when we face an emergency - when there is immediate danger - we should dial 999. But if there is a less urgent matter, we can now ring a new number. Cardiff is one of eight pilot areas where you can call 101 if you have a problem with an issue like vandalism, graffiti, noisy neighbours, abandoned vehicles, drunk or rowdy groups and anti-social behaviour in general. A call costs 10p.
I think that the 101 number is a good idea and I am interested to see how this new service is working out. I would very much like to hear what your experiences of the new service are, so if you would like me to get in touch, please ring me on (029) 20 624166, write to 17 Plasnewydd, Whitchurch, Cardiff CF14 1NR, or e-mail [email protected]. |
