THE Lancashire Telegraph on October 3 had headlines “Man jailed for eight years for trying to import heroin” and “Boy jailed for life (but in reality five years) for acts of terrorism”.

How much more confusing can our judicial system get?

A life sentence does not mean a life sentence in most cases these days. The teenager, deemed by the judge to be a danger to the public, could be released in five years if he can persuade a psychiatrist he has been de-radicalised. How reassuring for the public.

A Blackburn man gets eight years for trying to import heroin. He will be released in four years, as all prison sentences are routinely halved in this day and age.

Sentencing by our courts is a farce, a joke, a laughing stock. Courts give no consideration to the safety of the general public.

Their sentences neither punish nor deter the criminals, who are far too quickly back on our streets to continue their chosen lifestyle.

Prisons used to be places that no-one ever wanted to go back to — but no more, serving merely to keep the public safe from repeat offenders for increasingly shorter time periods of time.

Noel Eke (via email)