Prisoners polled on their views on sentencing

Three out of four prisoners believe burglars who target homes where children live should receive tougher sentences, according to a new report.

In a revealing survey of Britain's prison population, 73% of convicts said they thought judges are too lenient on burglars, especially when their victims include the young and vulnerable.

In the survey, part of ADT’s Take No More campaign and conducted in partnership with national prison newspaper Inside Time, six in 10 (61%) prisoners serving time for burglary admitted they had not considered the impact of their crimes on youngsters living in the houses they broke into.

However, nine in 10 (93%) said they would feel guilty if they knew that any children had been left traumatized by their crimes.

The Department of Commissions and research has partnered with Inside Time, the national newspaper for prisoners across the UK to research and understand the perception of burglaries and the long term impact it has on its victims.  Former inmate and Inside Times editor, Noel Smith, said: “By the age of 14 I was a criminal and I became one of the leading bank robbers in the capital… I didn’t ever think about the victims or the damage caused.”

Watch the video here, wher you can find out more about the views of former inmate Noel ‘Razor’ Smith who spent more than 30 years behind bars and a victim who was burgled in his childhood.