New Labour - Tough on crime: Cecil Stephens.

We here much about Labour telling us crime is down - it is not, that they are tough on crime - they are not and tackle the causes of crime - they don't.

An armed robber raided a post office while still serving a sentence at an open prison which was 'like a holiday camp.'

Cecil Stephens, 46, was a 'dangerous' career criminal with a shocking record, yet he was allowed to spend most of his time outside jail earning money or enjoying himself, a court was told.

Labour call that "penal reform"

He had an £18,000 a year full-time job, made regular weekend 'conjugal visits' to see the girlfriend who later acted as his getaway driver and went on unsupervised shopping trips.

They call that "rehabilitation back into society."

On the morning of the raid last December he left prison at 8am smelling of after-shave, telling guards he was looking forward to 'getting naughty' in a bed and breakfast with girlfriend Doreen Cramman, 51.

Instead she drove him 70 miles to the North Newbald Post Office in East Yorkshire and provided the balaclava and gun he needed for his raid.

I guess the soft penal system did not reform Cecil.

Stephens was jailed indefinitely at Hull Crown Court after being convicted of attempted robbery and possessing an imitation firearm. Recorder Jeremy Hill-Baker recommended he should not be released for at least six years.

Now this is the bit that shows how liberals have set up sentencing he is "jailed indefinitely" and the Recorder recommends he should be held for just six years, he will probably be out in half that.

Cramman, a mother-of-three with seven grandchildren, was given a six-year jail term after being convicted of attempted robbery.

Earlier the court heard how Stephens burst into the post office shouting: 'You know the score. Just give me the money and no one will get hurt.'

Thankfully he did not get any money.

But brave postmaster Robert Baker, 52, refused to hand over cash and he was bludgeoned to the floor, spraying blood over Stephens, who was forced to flee empty-handed.

The couple were arrested three miles from the scene after throwing the gun out the car. Despite being caught red-handed Stephens lied by claiming another man was to blame, but the jury didn't believe him.

The court was told about life at Kirklevington, where prisoners are sent when they have between eight and 36 months to serve. Prisoners have their own keys to single rooms and must show they are 'a manageable risk.'

New Labour showing that socialists are soft on crime and the causes of crime. I am sure that the many victims of these people are so pleased that they have keys to their rooms and can do as they please.

Michael Smith, prosecuting, told the jury: 'You may think Kirklevington is more of a holiday camp than a resettlement prison.'

Around 50 inmates had their own cars and parking spaces in a car park. Stephens, a father-of-three from Birmingham, didn't have his own vehicle but had everything else he needed.

Car parking spaces! WTF!

He was 10 years into an 18-year sentence for an armed robbery in which he wounded a building society cashier by firing a sawn-off shotgun through a security screen.

He had also served three other jail terms for armed robberies dating back to 1981.

Despite still officially being behind bars, Stephens decided to carry out another raid to provide a nest egg for when he was released - scheduled to be in September 2009.

After initially working as a volunteer, delivering furniture to the unemployed, a got a full-time job with a cold storage firm in North Yorkshire.

This bit is a slap to the face for every taxpayer in the land:

Stephens didn't have to worry about paying for food and accommodation and banked £270 a week - after tax - from his job. As well as his own bank account, he was allowed a credit card and mobile phone - although police found three mobiles and four SIM cards when they searched his cell.

He met Cramman while on day release in her home town of Beverley and she quickly became besotted with the muscular prisoner. She would drive to where he worked and take him gourmet sandwiches, and send food parcels of smoked salmon, prawns and mackerel to prison.

She also bought him clothes, shoes and gifts, some of which he left at her home where he was free to visit regularly. Stephens was allowed to go out on shopping trips and even travel to the Midlands to visit relatives.

This is prison life. Pocket a wage with no poll tax or other bills.

Detective Constable Phil Croshaw of Humberside Police said outside court: 'It beggars belief that a man like Cecil Stephens should plot an armed robbery like this while still serving a prison sentence.

'Clearly he is a dangerous man who carried out a violent robbery on a man who was doing nothing more than serving the public.'

Postmaster Robert Baker said: 'It is a scandal he should have even been in an open prison. He is now back behind bars in a nice safe environment. I have been told we won’t receive a penny in criminal injuries. I don’t think he should walk the streets. He should be locked up for ever.'

And how does Labour look after the victims of crime? Well Postmaster Robert Baker wont receive a penny in criminal injuries. If Labour believed in fairness a word that our unelected one eye'd PM used some 20+ times in his party speech they would award that Postmaster the monies Cecil has put away from his job.

Here is Cecil coming to a postoffice in a few years thanks to New Labours liberal justice system.

And here is Doreen Cramman, 51. Cecils skank. Fifty one she looks older than that.

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