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For­mer Na­tion­al Se­cu­ri­ty Min­is­ter and ex-Com­mis­sion­er of Po­lice Gary Grif­fith has thrown his sup­port be­hind Home­land Se­cu­ri­ty Min­is­ter Roger Alexan­der’s call for tougher penal­ties on gun crimes, in­clud­ing au­to­mat­ic bail de­nial and life im­pris­on­ment.

Grif­fith’s en­dorse­ment fol­lows Alexan­der’s in­ter­view with Guardian Me­dia on Tues­day, where the min­is­ter pro­posed deny­ing bail for gun-re­lat­ed of­fences for up to 180 days and in­tro­duc­ing sen­tences of 25 years to life up­on con­vic­tion.

While de­clin­ing to com­ment on the gov­ern­ment’s ap­par­ent re­ver­sal on bail pol­i­cy—af­ter op­pos­ing sim­i­lar mea­sures in 2020—Grif­fith re­it­er­at­ed his long-held po­si­tion that the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem is skewed in favour of of­fend­ers and in ur­gent need of re­form.