Cake and eat it!

Today I read on the BBC news website, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-19520501 that an ambulance manager, Robert King has been struck off for failing to declare a murder conviction.

The hearing heard the murder raised "serious concerns about his suitability as a health care professional"

This man received the conviction as a minor in 1981 and had been working in the ambulance service for 16 yrs. My understanding is that he is now a married man.

Now as a retired police officer you would no doubt expect me to be fully supportive of this decision as obviously ALL police officers and their ilk would have all criminals hung, let alone murderers!

Well how often do we hear about the criminal justice system being about rehabilitation and not about punishment? This man it is quite obvious would never have gotten this job to start with had he declared his convictions. Did they affect his ability to carry out his job? It would appear not, as he was in fact a highly qualified helicopter paramedic! He also appears on the face of it to have been pretty good at his job and hence promotion to operations manager.

So here is a man who has for many years, probably having saved countless lives, and may even have joined this profession to in some way make amends for his actions as a youth, and what happens? He gets crucified! Did his wife know about his convictions? I am guessing not. So now he may well now lose his wife as well as his job. However, the argument for rehabilitation Vs punishment is just really a complete load of hot air.

I am still of the opinion that murderers should go to prison for the rest of their natural lives, and now maybe even more so after reading about this man. Because it really is quite obvious that he was never going to be allowed to carry out a job with any real meaning, and be consigned to only the most lowly and poorly paid employment.

So all the establishments protestations regarding rehabilitation for a man who it would appear on the face of it has dragged himself from the gutter  and at least provided a valuable service that many would not wish to do for a job, has now after all these years been told he is not suitable!

Now I am not suggesting for one minute that action should not have been taken in some form or another, quite frankly with the LAS vetting systems administrators to start with. But to now probably destroy this mans life, after he has gone into a very difficult profession to in some way I guess atone for his crime seems even to me, someone just slightly right of Attila the Hun, to be somewhat hypocritical and quite frankly obscene.