@upthecreekyetagain wrote:
@suzieseaside wrote:
Maybe the death sentence for terrorists will make a martyr out of them but there are plenty of other ways that crazy people become radicalised, so it may not make a huge difference overall.
Weighed against the cost of keeping these scum for decades in our overcrowded prisons, with our hard-earned taxes, I would advocate giving them their expected paradise asap. 72 virgins or another misinterpretation - a 72 year old virgin?Suzie - the cost element really is a total red herring unless the death penalty is being advocated for all crimes!
If we are going to imprison criminals then there is going to be a cost - are you less annoyed at the cost of imprisonment for a car thief, drug dealer, rapist or murderer than you are over the cost for a terrorist?
Personally if it came down to a choice then I'd rather the money was spent on locking up the terrorist than the car thief.
The cost element may be a total red herring to you, creeky, but it’s only a partial pink mackerel to me. 
And yes I am less annoyed at the cost of imprisonment for more minor crimes, and for one-off murderers whose crime may not have been pre-meditated. For those there is a chance that prison will serve its purpose.
The point of prison is punishment, incapacitation (protection for the public), deterrence and rehabilitation. All of these may be effective for these crimes and the cost per individual is significantly less.
For treason, pre-meditated mass murderers and cold-blooded serial killers (like Brady) who are without doubt guilty of directly taking human lives, knowingly and purposefully, and who will have to be in for life or several decades, the cost of incarceration for these individuals, as JD pointed out, is huge.
The deterrence aspect of prison is irrelevant to terrorists imo. IS terrorists would, presumably, rather blow themselves up at the time of acting out their heinous crimes, but I seriously doubt that the possibility of being caught and banged up for life is any deterrent to them carrying out mass murder. As for remorse and rehabilitation – is that really likely? I'm not convinced that terrorists (or mass murderers/serial killers) deserve that opportunity once they have stepped way over that line that keeps the rest of society relatively civilised.
