So we now hold the dubious honour of being the crime capital of Europe, yet another fine achievement by the current government, not! A recent crime survey has revealed that Britain is the most burgled country in Europe. Levels of assault are also the highest across the EU, while car theft, robbery and sex offences are above average.

According to the European Crime and Safety Survey - a joint project involving the UN and EU Commission – shows that in the overall crime league, the UK comes only second to Ireland, with more than one fifth of the populations of both nations exposed to crime in the last year. How can this be?

We are told (and I have no reason to doubt) that we now spend more on crime prevention that at any time previously. We are told that we have more police officers then ever before and we are told that we have more Community Support Officers to support out police than at any time. So what is going wrong?

The problem is, as I see it, there seems to be a lack of respect not only for the authorities that are supposed to protect us but also to each other.

There is also a perception that there is very little consequence to illegal or anti-social behaviour. It is absolutely ridiculous that someone can be sent to prison (I know that is very unlikely in the current prison crisis) for 6 months and only serve 2 to 3 months of that sentence and of course we are being told that prison is the very last resort. What happened to making the punishment fit the crime? What happened to the rights of the victim over the criminal? Until these things are addressed and there is actually a consequence to breaking the law then this current trend of anti-social behaviour and lack of social responsibility will continue.

I am all for rehabilitation but I can tell you (I am a Magistrate) offenders can breach community orders 3 or 4 times before any action is taken to punish them further. If they fail to co-operate with our Probation and Drugs and Alcohol services then they should be punished and if prison is the most appropriate place then so be it.

Free up the police to do the job they are paid for. Make the punishment fit the crime and put the rights of the victim first. Only when we sort these issues out will we (the community and police) be able to take back our streets.