FEARS OVER DRINK 'LUNACY'
Judges have warned ministers to expect a huge increase in rapes, domestic violence and assaults as a result of the relaxation of drinking laws.
Police chiefs also fear British towns may resemble infamous holiday party spots like Faliraki when new licensing laws come in.
Senior judges told the Home Office to expect incidences of alcohol-fuelled violent crime to soar when the traditional 11pm closing time ends in November.
A paper from the Council of Her Majesty's Circuit Judges said: "Those who routinely see the consequences of drink-fuelled violence in offences of rape, grievous bodily harm and worse on a daily basis are in no doubt that an escalation of offences of this nature will inevitably be caused by the relaxation of liquor licensing which the Government has now authorised."
Judge Charles Harris, QC, a member of the Council of Circuit Judges, said the situation was already grave "if not grotesque" and making drinking facilities more widely available "is close to lunacy".
Writing in The Times, he said it was rare for violent offences he sits before in the criminal courts to be committed by someone who had not been drinking.
After consuming up to 12 pints in a night often people fight in pubs, he wrote.
He said once drunk these people are "simply savages, angry, blind and brutal".
"They are so ill educated or made crude by inadequately civilising influences in their homes that they seem unable to drink in an acceptable "continental" fashion," he said.
The full extent of police commanders' concerns was set out in a report published thisd week by the Home Office.
The Association of Chief Police Officers warned: "One only has to look to popular holiday destinations to see the effect of allowing British youth unrestricted access to alcohol."
Ministers have argued that scrapping 11pm closing will cut binge drinking and encourage a new continental-style cafe culture.
Judges have warned ministers to expect a huge increase in rapes, domestic violence and assaults as a result of the relaxation of drinking laws.
Police chiefs also fear British towns may resemble infamous holiday party spots like Faliraki when new licensing laws come in.
Senior judges told the Home Office to expect incidences of alcohol-fuelled violent crime to soar when the traditional 11pm closing time ends in November.
A paper from the Council of Her Majesty's Circuit Judges said: "Those who routinely see the consequences of drink-fuelled violence in offences of rape, grievous bodily harm and worse on a daily basis are in no doubt that an escalation of offences of this nature will inevitably be caused by the relaxation of liquor licensing which the Government has now authorised."
Judge Charles Harris, QC, a member of the Council of Circuit Judges, said the situation was already grave "if not grotesque" and making drinking facilities more widely available "is close to lunacy".
Writing in The Times, he said it was rare for violent offences he sits before in the criminal courts to be committed by someone who had not been drinking.
After consuming up to 12 pints in a night often people fight in pubs, he wrote.
He said once drunk these people are "simply savages, angry, blind and brutal".
"They are so ill educated or made crude by inadequately civilising influences in their homes that they seem unable to drink in an acceptable "continental" fashion," he said.
The full extent of police commanders' concerns was set out in a report published thisd week by the Home Office.
The Association of Chief Police Officers warned: "One only has to look to popular holiday destinations to see the effect of allowing British youth unrestricted access to alcohol."
Ministers have argued that scrapping 11pm closing will cut binge drinking and encourage a new continental-style cafe culture.
waahoo!
