It was just hours
before someone declared that justice had been done for Daniel Pelka. According to the BBC website report, Senior Crown
Prosecutor Lisa Windridge said Daniel’s killers had been sentenced for a
''heinous'' crime. ''We are pleased that justice has finally been achieved for
Daniel Pelka.''
It hasn’t. Daniel, 4, starved to death by his mother and her partner, died a tragic death as dozens of people failed to
notice what was going on.
Justice is not handed out to victims posthumously. Justice is handed out to the criminals, and if we are to have any hope of achieving and maintaining
a sensible justice system we need to be able to sort out the differences
between crime, punishment, revenge, retribution, public safety, rehabilitation,
and any number of other quite difficult ideas.
I have no dispute whatsoever with the 30-year jail sentence in this case. But the process must involve rather more than lock up, throw away the key, hope
everybody feels better and can forget what happened.
Sloppy soundbites and turgid thinking provide nothing but comfort blankets for some who may be feeling uneasy.
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