I AM not so heartless that I believe that first or even second-time offenders should not be given a chance to reform. But why should those who have proven themselves to be persistent offenders continue to be given more rope by the criminal justice system instead of reaping the punishment they have asked for?

Yet, we hear that more than 500 serial criminals in Lancashire are to get pep talks in the form of counselling, either as a complete alternative to jail or as a condition of their release from prison.

Just how well this wheedling approach by the Probation Service will work, I don't know. But not in my wildest dreams can I see it working as well to defeat or deter crime as the locking up of persistent offenders -- if only because villains behind bars have no opportunity to commit more crime. But evidently what does work with this notion is that of job creation and security in the Probation Service which sees itself growing by 35 per cent over the next three years as it enforces community 'punishment.' What happened to the old 'prison works' philosophy of the tough-on-crime rhetoric? Is it cheaper to lecture the lags not to be naughty, than to lock them up? And are we all to feel safer as a result?