He's not my mate, I know his wife well from before they were together, but dont really know him very well.

He never meant to kill anyone as it happens, he was a thief but never meant to hurt anyone so not as bad as some people are, but hey, thats the risk you take when committing crimes I guess, an innocent person lost their life, and now he and his wife and kids and parents etc all have lost a big chunk of happiness from their lives too due to the effect prison had on him.

In his case, the guilt of someone dieing was more than enough of a deterant I would think, he is stupid but not nasty, and it was a wakeup call for him, but im sure the prison term and the rapings etc may have also had an effect on wether he offends again or not.

My honest opinion is that no one deserves to be raped while they are in prison, and the system has failed if it allows it to happen, the justice system is meant to set the penalty as the same for all people, it doesnt make sense to me that someone who is a lesser thug and not able to look after himself inside should be continually raped by a gang of stronger criminals.

Dont get me wrong, I think sentances are too lean in many cases, but I dont think that it should be the case that some people end up mentally damaged for life as a result of treatment by other inmates, as that is NOT productive in solving crimes, in fact in many cases its likely to send you even more off the rails and make you more dangerous IMHO