Should the identities of criminals be protected?

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Originally Posted by http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=6862&edition=1&ttl=20090811205 614

The couple responsible for the death of 17-month-old Baby Peter have been named as Tracey Connelly, his mother, and her partner Steven Barker, after a court anonymity order expired. Was it right to name them?

Because of the notoriety of the case it is likely that those convicted will be given new identities upon release to protect them from vigilante attacks.

In other high-profile cases convicted criminals have been given protection following their release. Robert Thompson and John Venables - the killers of James Bulger – and Mary Bell who killed two boys in the 1960s were all given new identities to prevent revenge attacks.

Was it right to release their names now? What good can come from the decision to name them? Should people convicted of any crime have their identities protected when they are released? Should the taxpayer foot the bill for a new identity?

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I think if your going to do the crime you should be punished and part of that punishment should be the reaction of the public :)

Depends on the crime - rape, murder, extreme theft and kidnapping then cry it on the roof tops. But something small like petty theft is a pointless waste of police resources.

What Gomme said basically. They done the crime and people have the right to know about it.

Funny how they've only just been named. Everyone in the country knew who they were since last November, huge mass chain text.

I love the USA's way of dealing with those on the sex offenders register. They put a sign outside their house saying "Sex Offender Lives Here".

Haha I was actually going to reference how the US deals with sex offenders. You can go online and look up registered sex offenders that live near you on google - it's pretty freaky how many of them there are.

Anyway.. I think it's handy to be aware of those who have committed severe crimes or are guilty of things such as sexual offenses. That way you can be extra careful about things like where you let your kids play, etc. There is of course going to be issues with vigilantes trying to take revenge on particularly high profile cases, but I have no pity for them - they brought it upon themselves.

Depends, if there under suspicion or not.

For major things such as murder, no, for things like drink drving yes. If you did a serious crime in the first place you deserve consequences...