Former Labour MP Stephen Pound has referred to criminals who refuse to attend sentencing as "murderous scum" during a heated debate on GB News.His comments come as the Labour government prepares to introduce the Victims and Courts Bill to Parliament.READ THE FULL STORY HERE
00:00...are going to have these terrible punishments, things like...
00:03Three weeks without television.
00:04No TV for three weeks.
00:05That's really going to make them rush into court.
00:07When you're in prison for 30 years.
00:09And are you telling me they won't be able to get hold of an illegal mobile phone
00:13on which they can watch everything they might have seen on television?
00:15And do their drug deal on their mobile phone at the same time.
00:18Of course, whilst they might still be having an affair with a prison officer of opposite sex.
00:23Or they may not be allowed to go to the gym.
00:25Who knew they were able to go to the gym in the first place?
00:28Exactly.
00:28I think there's a bit of a problem about this.
00:30Because I think every right-minded person would say that the criminal should actually face the consequences of their actions.
00:36And they should actually face the victim's family in court.
00:39However, the practicalities of it make that impossible.
00:42Because you'd have to either drag them in...
00:44You're always making excuses.
00:45Honestly, your side, your side, Stephen, always make excuses about why it can't be done.
00:50Let's think of a way that it can be done.
00:52I have to say, and your side is always coming out with these grandiose ideas without actually working out the details.
00:58If they refuse, you bound and gag them and put them in the car.
01:01Oh, come on.
01:02Imagine what that would look like.
01:03Couldn't you?
01:04Ellis!
01:04I'm sorry.
01:05They're an infamous killer.
01:06Yeah.
01:07And they're going to be sentenced to 30 years.
01:09They need to hear from the family of victims.
01:11I couldn't agree more.
01:12But what I'm saying, there's only two ways of doing it.
01:14Either the person gets dragged into court in the same way in manacles, handcuffs, or they're in their cell and they actually broadcast it through the prison bars.
01:23Exactly.
01:23There should be a special room at every court, which is the delivery room, where the prisoner will hear, whether they go to court or not, exactly what the families of the victims have got to say.
01:35And the families should be able to see it.
01:37Of course they should.
01:38And see the reaction.
01:39One of the things that the last government did was actually, I think, very, very good, was actually have the thing of the victim impact statement.
01:44Because up until then, there'd never been such a thing.
01:46No, we had it in America, didn't they?
01:47But not here.
01:48Well, yeah, but I think we took, I mean, I think it was actually one of Cameron's things.
01:51But look, it came in fairly quickly.
01:53However, that's only half the story.
01:54You shouldn't just have the emphasis on the impact on the victims, but they should actually let the person, the perpetrator, see the consequences.
02:01Yeah.
02:02And I couldn't agree more.
02:03So, look, Mike, we agree on this.
02:04It's just we're working out the details of how to do it.
02:06No, no, because I'm sorry, Stephen, your side always find reasons why it can't be done.
02:10And I want to find reasons why it can be done, even if it means, why, OK, so you can't bound and gag, maybe, that's a bit over the top.
02:17Why can't you have, hang on, why can't you have four prison officers surrounding the person who's been found guilty, holding their arms and restraining them physically from making a noise or, you can put something up, tape on the person's mouth, you can hand them, you can hold them arm by arm and you can say, you are standing up and you're going to watch and you're going to listen.
02:42What's wrong with that?
02:43Basically, they would head back the prison office.
02:45No, they wouldn't, because they're not prison officers to restrain them.
02:48No, no, I'm sorry.
02:48The idea of something...
02:49But they're in a restraint jacket.
02:51Oh, come on, I just...
02:52Why are we worrying about the prisoners' rights?
02:54I'm not worrying about the...
02:55They've been convicted, Mike.
02:57No, Andrew, I'll tell you...
02:57They've been convicted of a terrible crime.
02:58No, I'll tell you what I'm worried about.
03:00I'm worried about people having sympathy for these murdering scum because they see them dragged into court and gagged and mad.
03:05I think people will cheer, though, aren't they?
03:07Yeah, I do.
03:08Most people would.
03:10But you know and I know that there's some newspapers beginning with the letter G that we don't normally talk about.
03:14They would immediately say, oh, this is Guantanamo Bay.
03:17Oh, no, no.
03:17Society shouldn't be robbed by a newspaper beginning with G.
03:21If it upsets the Guardian, it must be right.
03:22Yeah, exactly.
03:23It must be absolutely right.
03:25Can we agree on that?
03:25Yeah, but, I mean, once again, Stephen, you know, you're coming to these TV studios, making the case for the criminal rather than the victim.
