Criminals have been warned that ‘if you break it, you fix it’ as part of a new poster campaign launched today by London Liberal Democrat Mayoral candidate Brian Paddick and his candidate for Deputy Mayor, Lib Dem London Assembly Member, Caroline Pidgeon.
The London wide payback programme co-ordinated by the Mayor’s office will be an alternative to short term prison sentences for convicted criminals so that they can give something back to society. The slogan for the proposal - ‘You Break It, You Fix It’ appears on posters at 176 sites around London.
Brian said: “We need to judge whether a sentence is tough or not from the criminals' perspective, not ours. Rather than sit in a cosy cell in prison for hours on end, criminals should be forced to clean up graffiti, repair broken fences, clear up fly-tipped rubbish and improve London’s public spaces. Local people will decide what needs to be done to improve their local area, something local authorities can’t currently afford to do.”
Caroline said: “Sending an offender to prison costs far more than the scheme we are proposing here. This community payback will mean that Londoners get their local areas improved and offenders have to work hard to payback for what they have done.”
Brian added: “It’s time for a new London-wide scheme, run by the Mayor who now has the new responsibility of being the Police and Crime Commissioner. Payback sentences like this need to be tough in order to teach people the self discipline they need to get back into work, provide valuable skills and reconnect them with their communities. The new posters appearing from today will help spread the message that when I become Mayor, if you break it, you fix it.”