The Purpose of Punishment
Moral Maze
BBC
4.5 • 609 Ratings
🗓️ 1 February 2024
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The last week saw two contrasting examples of how societies treat killers. Valdo Calocane, who killed three people in Nottingham and tried to kill three more, avoided jail and was instead sent to a secure hospital for life because of his mental illness. One of the victim’s relatives protested that he “got away with murder”. Meanwhile in America, convicted murderer Kenneth Smith became the first person in the US to be executed using nitrogen gas.
Calocane’s charge was reduced to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility because of his paranoid schizophrenia. The mother of one of his victims objected and complained that the families were not consulted. The Attorney General will be reviewing the sentence. It’s raised questions about what punishment is for: Is it for criminals – to provide the suffering they deserve, or reform them or deter future offenders? Or is it for victims – providing retribution and a sense of fairness to them? Victims are uniquely placed to appreciate the true impact of crime, so shouldn't their perspective have a greater weight in the judicial process? Would a bigger role for victims improve or hinder justice? What’s the purpose of punishment and can it ever provide justice for the most serious offenders, and their victims?
Presenter: Michael Buerk Producer: Jonathan Hallewell Assistant Producer: Linda Walker Editor: Tim Pemberton
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:04.6 | Good evening. It was coincidence, of course, but a telling contrast in attitudes to punishment and justice. |
| 0:10.4 | Two murder stories jostling for prominence in the papers and the news bulletins. |
| 0:15.7 | Here, Valdo Calacaine, who went on the rampage with a knife in Nottingham, killing three people, ended up |
| 0:22.0 | not in prison but in a secure hospital. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, which |
| 0:27.1 | was judged to have impaired his ability to control himself. The victim's families are furious. They |
| 0:32.6 | point to the premeditation that went into the attacks and say he's got away with murder. |
| 0:38.3 | Meantime in Alabama, Kenneth Smith, who was offered a thousand dollars by a church minister |
| 0:42.4 | to kill the minister's wife back in the 1980s, was finally executed after 30 years on death row. |
| 0:48.6 | He survived one botched execution attempt a year or so ago when officials tried for hours to insert a needle for a lethal injection. |
| 0:57.0 | This time, they succeeded in stifling to death with nitrogen. |
| 1:01.0 | The most humane form of execution known to man, according to the Alabama authorities, |
| 1:05.5 | though witnesses described him writhing in his bonds for several minutes. |
| 1:09.4 | The family of his victims said his death provided closure |
| 1:12.6 | and that justice had finally been done. |
| 1:16.3 | The contrast begs questions about what punishment is actually for |
| 1:19.3 | and who is it for? |
| 1:21.4 | Deterance of others? |
| 1:23.1 | Reform of the criminal. |
| 1:25.4 | Retribution. |
| 1:26.5 | And if that, to what extent is it on behalf of the victims, |
| 1:30.2 | and how much of a part, if any, should they play in the outcome? Would a greater role for victims |
... |
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