[blazey]

I think this has its pros and cons in comparison to the campaign started by the Paynes.

For a start, it isn't making the information available to everyone but is available for specific reasons only such as if someone new is having contact to the family and you have children and you want to check they will be safe. Seems to be a similar idea to CRB checks. This is much better and for one reason only in my opinion.

The idea of being able to look at the images of sex offenders online no matter who you are has led to the death of several people due to the fact that people are convincing themselves that the reserved old man who lives on the corner of their street is the man they saw on the website and are launching attacks on them, often til they are serious hurt or killed.

The only risk about this new proposal is that those who have served time will still be identifiable and if families get upset or whatever, and rightly so in some cases, then they may disclose that persons identity to the public anyway and really that should not be allowed... as it would cause that person to be put at risk by the public when they have already served the sentence in prison...

Now I was asked about what I thought of this on my mini pupillage the other week and I was scared to answer in this way, but the barrister said that this way of looking at things is almost unique to lawyers rather than the general public because of the way we are subjected to the law which is different to most people who only get exposed to it through the media in some way... so I don't necessarily expect anyone to agree with me on it, but I actually quite like this new idea if it is used properly and doesn't cause ANYONE to get hurt regardless of who they are or what they may have done. If a law begins to put people at risk then it isn't a good idea at all and should be challenged.