Marks Views on Prisoner Rehabilitation

When a prisoner is selected to play football for his prison team it’s hardly a newsworthy event. But when that prisoner is ex Plymouth goalkeeper Luke McCormick, in jail for killing two children when drunk, the decision causes outcry.

His situation is hardly a popular cause for a politician to take up. After all two children have lost their lives due to his awful actions. But I strongly believe he should be positively encouraged to start playing football once more and critics of this decision should think again.

The row hits at the heart of the long running debate about punishment and prison. Those against his playing argue he should be locked up, punished and never allowed to kick or save a football again. After all, they say, his victims cannot live to enjoy sport so why should he?

They are right that he should be punished. If you commit a crime then part of that penalty should be a loss of freedom. It’s also important that drink drivers are heavily punished to send out a strong prevention message.

As a parent I can understand the raw emotions behind these sentiments but also as a parent I’m interested in stopping more children being the victims of crime. And that means we have to ask a difficult question - that punishment aside, what should society now do with Luke McCormick?

A young talented sportsman with the rest of his life ahead, do we give up on him forever and ensure he spends his life on benefits and a drain on society until he dies or find a more constructive approach? He may have ruined a family but it’s a nonsense to ruin him.

Playing football is what he does so let him keep fit and healthy and let him learn to train and pass skills onto others, perhaps then when he leaves jail he may get a job coaching. Then he can pay tax, then he can avoid crime and then he can avoid becoming one of the 60% of prisoners that end up returning to jail.

It’s not about letting him “enjoy” prison. His time there is not going to be a walk in the park or anything like that. It’s about preventing re-offending. We need to re-think the way we do things and how we view prisons. Punishment will of course always be a factor but so should rehabilitation and reform.

Society as a whole needs to come to terms with the notion that helping prisoners learn during their time in prison, to make sure their transition back into society is smooth so they can contribute meaningfully is in all of our interests. I fear the current system is just unsustainable.

The decision to let Luke play football is not just about kicking a piece of leather around a pitch. It goes to the heart of what our prisons should be about. Punishment yes, but matched with sensible rehabilitation.