Commentary
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6403700701 |
| Published date | 01 July 1964 |
| Date | 01 July 1964 |
| Subject Matter | Commentary |
Lessons of the Great Train
Robbery
It
will probably be some time before the last chapter in the story
of
the Great Train Robbery
of
last August is written. Seven men
have been sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment each,
and
others
have received lesser
but
still severe punishments. The evidence
showed that several beside those on trial had conspired to participate
in stealing over two
and
ahalf million pounds' worth
of
notes and
bullion. Less than a fifth
of
this has been recovered.
"I
propose
to do all within my power," said the trial Judge,
"to
ensure
that
it will also be the last
of
its kind." He said also
that
the outrageous
conduct
of
the accused constituted an intolerable menace to society's
well-being. It is to be hoped
that
this event, unparalleled in criminal
history, will have awakened the public's sense
of
the growing danger
of
crime in this country.
The long
and
fruitless searches for the money which is still missing,
the persistent refusal
of
persons
arrested-including
the
accused-
and suspected to help the police, the reluctance
of
womenfolk
and
others on the fringe
of
the case to come forward with information
or even to respond to the prospect
of
substantial rewards disclose
a grave state
of
affairs. Parliament and the judiciary as well as the
press would do well to think less
of
the occasional shortcomings
of
individual policemen
and
more
of
finding stronger
and
sterner
measures to
cope
with crime, Who can regard with equanimity
a state
of
the criminal law which allows the guilty to evade conviction
and to retain their spoils? A few more successful robberies on this
scale will seriously endanger the nation's economy as well as its peace.
The War Against Crime
The unending search for solutions to the social
and
economic
problems created by increasing criminality
and
the frustration
born
of
measures proving inadequate are focused in the White Paper,
The War against Crime in England and Wales, 1959-64. This takes
stock
of
what has happened since the Government published its
now famous White Paper in 1959, Penal Practice in a Changing
Society. During these five years an unprecedented number and
variety
of
studies have been made
of
the problem
but
it has never-
theless been found necessary to appoint aRoyal Commission on
Crime
and
Punishment. Its terms
of
reference provide for a com-
prehensive review
of
our
penal system
and
the Commission's
July 1964 304
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