ABSTRACT
A glance at the newspapers, television schedules or cinema listings on any particular day will demonstrate the fascination, some might say obsession, we have with crime and criminals – with what crimes are committed, with who commits them and with what happens to those criminals who are caught. It is this last aspect that provides the focus for this chapter. Questions such as ‘should all murderers get life imprisonment?’, ‘what should life mean?’ and ‘should burglars go to prison?’ excite widespread interest and debate, evidenced by the front page headline in The Times (20 December 2002) which announced that the ‘Lord Chief Justice tells courts not to jail burglars’. Indeed the media interest with crime and criminals is largely based around what happens to offenders who are caught – with who gets what within the criminal justice system. What happens in the courtroom forms the basis for much media reporting of crime for local and national newspapers and broadcasting; and the courtroom drama is regularly used to boost audience figures in soaps and as the basis of storylines in films and other productions.
