Mercs4Crims

Iain Murray is lost for words and it’s not difficult to see why:

Prisoners are being ferried about in luxury chauffeur-driven Mercedes cars, it was confirmed today.

The prisoners from Holloway, Pentonville and Wormwood Scrubs in London are driven in £30,000 E-class Mercedes Benz cars with leather seats, air conditioning and professional drivers to hospital and other appointments.

A spokesman for Corporate Cars, based in Whetstone, north London, defended the use of luxury cars today, claiming that the high-class cars were used because of security risks.

“Do you want to know why we use Mercedes?” he said. “What is the most reliable car on the road?

Well, I’m glad you asked. The most reliable car on the road is a Mazda.

It’s those same old myths, if you want a reliable car buy a Mercedes; if you want to be a criminal be one in the UK. No wait, that last one’s true.

It seems that some don't see the problem with using air conditioned mercedes for prisoner transportation. The fact is that, joking aside, it's not just an issue of reliability and economics. It's also matter of justice being seen to be done and this kind of "justice" is hard to swallow for the honest guy that has to take a dirty London bus into work every morning.

The primary responsibility of the prison service is not to cut costs but to ensure that the prisoners pay their debt to society. Many in society do not include mercedes and air conditioning as part of the deal.

Posted by JohnJo at November 13, 2003 08:20 AM | TrackBack