A FORMER armed robber who has spent half his life behind bars has hit out at lenient sentences and said judges must jail violent criminals for longer.

Eamonn Anderson, who served 24 years in prison for armed robberies and fire-arms offences, said the public had lost faith in the justice system.

The 51-year-old was last jailed for an armed robbery at Tesco in Abingdon in 2002. He was featured on the front page of the Oxford Mail after also stealing a ring which had belonged to Oscar Wilde from Magdalen College in Oxford.

But now Mr Anderson is on a new crusade.

The former career criminal turned law student is now offering to give free lectures about his experiences in the hope of deterring young people from a life of crime.

Mr Anderson, who now lives at Simon House, in Paradise Street, Oxford, grew up in Brixton, in South London.

He has appeared in the dock 18 times since he was 13.

His longest stint ‘inside’ was in the 1980s, when he served just over eight years in prison after being jailed for his part in nine bank robberies and firearms offences.

Since 2009, the father-of-one has stayed on the right side of the law. He said: “Judges should stop passing lenient sentences for extremely violent crimes, because they’re not a deterrent.

“The starting range should be five to seven years at the very least. It’s no wonder members of the public have no faith in the justice system.

“Judges are failing to recognise the damage violent assaults have on victims of crime.

“I never thought I would be saying this, but our justice system has become an embarrassment to victims of violent crime.”

He said: “I became involved in crime at the age of 13, because I was attracted to the glamour of criminality.

“But (during my time in prison) instead of receiving the glamour and respect I thought crime would bring, I had over 15 friends either murdered or killed.

“Some were shot dead by armed police during criminal activities, others were stabbed to death in prison fights, some were murdered during drug deals that went wrong, others committed suicide, because they couldn’t cope with long-term imprisonment and a few died as a result of substance misuse.”

Mr Anderson, now studying at Ruskin College in Oxford, said he was horrified at some recent sentences, including 18-year-old Amy Smith from Wigan who was jailed for 33 months for blinding a woman in one eye by stamping on her face while wearing stiletto heels.

He said: “When people are getting seriously injured through violent crimes, they’re traumatised for a period of time.

“Some people never get over it. They’re physically or psychologically scarred for the rest of their life.

“I think people think it’s acceptable to behave in a violent way, because of the way violence is portrayed in rap music, violent video games and there’s a certain bravado about it.

“Today I see kids and young people being encouraged to do wrong things or become part of that gang sub-culture which exists.

“If they knew the reality of what lay ahead, they would think twice about having respect or admiration for crime, criminals or gangs.”

The Ministry of Justice said it could not comment on individual cases and added that sentencing was a matter for the courts.

Prison sentences for robbery range from 12 months to 12 years if serious physical injury is caused or a weapon is used.

What do you think of Mr Anderson’s views? Write to Letters to the Editor, Oxford Mail, Osney Mead, Oxford, OX2 0EJ, email letters@oxfordmail.co.uk, or comment online at oxfordmail.co.uk