Soft justice makes police ‘caretakers for criminals’: As thug who battered officer for dead is freed after less than three months, rank and file leader blasts Labour’s early release ‘reforms’
Police will become ‘the guardians of criminals in society’ under Labour’s soft justice reforms, a police leader has warned.
Police Federation national vice-president Brian Booth said crime would become rife with dangerous criminals due to the lack of deterrence.
Mr Booth, whose organization represents 145,000 rank-and-file civil servants, fears the Government’s plans to jail fewer criminals and release prisoners sooner will lead to a rise in crime. His warnings came as it emerged that a thug who assaulted a police officer and left him for dead had been released after serving less than three months of a three-year sentence.
While Ryan Davis was on a plainclothes operation in Hereford, he was brutally attacked by a father and son who punched, kicked and stamped on him and strangled him until he almost lost consciousness.
He suffered a broken leg, multiple fractures, a broken ankle and lacerations to his face, including eye damage.
Alex Quinn, 20, was sentenced to three years and ten months in a young offenders institution but was released after just 82 days in a move that caused outrage among police officers.
Now Mr Booth has written to Justice Secretary David Lammy warning of the ‘growing gap between the sentence handed down in court and the reality experienced by victims’.
While Ryan Davis was on a plainclothes operation in Hereford, he was brutally attacked by a father and son, who punched, kicked and stamped him and strangled him until he almost lost consciousness.
Richard, 49, (left) and Alex Quinn, 20, (right) were sentenced to prison for the crime; But the baby-faced fool was released subject to a ‘home detention order’ after serving less than three months.
He fears upcoming sentencing reforms, including the abolition of shorter sentences and earlier releases, will lead to ‘rampant’ crime that the police will be powerless to stop.
Chief constables predict crime will rise by up to 6 per cent and the cost of having to deal with thousands more criminals on the streets will double to £800m from initial estimates of an additional £400m in police costs, according to the latest Home Office analysis.
The reforms will enable violent offenders facing prison sentences to be managed in the community through remote measures such as electronic tags.
Mr Booth said: ‘We will be watchdogs of criminals in society.
‘How do we deal with a system where we keep only the most dangerous people in prison while still letting some damn dangerous people stay on the streets barely touching their wrists? This will embolden criminals; In my experience, being soft on criminals does not keep people safe.
‘We need to invest in prisons because when you take criminals off the streets, it stops them from causing harm and society is protected from them.’
PC Davis still suffers from chronic pain following the brutal attack on Good Friday in 2024 and has been unable to return to frontline duties due to his injuries. He was on patrol for violence against women and girls in Hereford town center when he saw Quinn and his father Richard beating a man.
When he tried to stop them, the pair attacked him, knocking him to the ground and fearing he would die as punches rained down.
Richard Quinn, 49, remains in prison after being sentenced to four years and three months for assault in February. However, his son was released on May 13.
The baby-faced yob was released on a ‘home detention curfew’ after serving less than three months after it was decided that the 345 days he spent wearing a bail tag should be included in his total prison time before sentencing.
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PC Davis still suffers from chronic pain following the brutal attack on Good Friday in 2024 and has been unable to return to frontline duties due to his injuries.
Sir Keir Starmer launches early release plan to tackle overcrowding in British prisons in 2024
PC Davis said: ‘This horrific attack changed who I am. I’ve been struggling ever since. The Quinns’ actions caused me so much physical and mental pain. All I was trying to do was protect the public and prevent harm. Even now I still have nightmares and chronic pain reminds me every day.’
Mr Booth said it was a ‘kick in the teeth’ for officers to release offenders like Quinn so quickly. He added: ‘He essentially left her for dead. This was an attack on a police officer, so what could he do to a member of the public?
‘When a police officer is nearly killed, it causes officers to think: “What’s the point of reporting this?”
Mr Booth is calling on the Government to review the release framework for offenders who commit serious violence against emergency workers.
He added: ‘People don’t report crimes because they will lose trust in the police, in the whole criminal justice system… If you report someone and that thief is labeled in society, then they go out and do it again, what is the consequence for them? More time on the label?
‘Police officers will be dealing with more criminals in society who need to be in prison and we won’t be able to keep an eye on everyone.
‘We don’t have the resources, these dangerous people will roam free and as crime runs rampant we will see trust in the police diminish.’
