We are now on the side of criminals not the public, says Mark Dolan

The two primary functions of the state are to police our borders and to keep law and order at home. Well, it's clear we are struggling on the former and outright failing on the later, with just 6% of burglaries for example, leading to a conviction in England and wales last year. Which is why the next story is symptomatic of the country at the moment.

A have-a-go hero who ran two burglars off the road said it was a 'slap in the face' when he was jailed for two years while they walked free in part because of their injuries.

Adam White, 34, was jailed in February for 22 months for causing serious injury by dangerous driving after he ran the would-be burglars off the road - while the crooks themselves were spared prison.

Speaking to MailOnline, Mr White revealed how being sentenced was 'the worst day of my life' and spoke about his agonising time in prison as well as the ongoing impact it continues to have.

A friend of mine had a similar experience a couple of years ago. He's a pensioner and was walking down the street with his phone in his hand. Two scumbags mount the pavement on a moped and grab his hand to get the phone. What they didn't realise, is that although my friend is in his 70s, he’s ex SAS. Oh dear, they picked the wrong man. As he physically resisted their efforts, the rider of the motorbike produced a massive blade. My friend grabbed his arm, twisted it and forcibly detained the criminal until the police eventually arrived.

What was the first thing they did? Question my friend, who's had his life threatened for a mobile phone, about why he has injured this young criminal. It gets worse – the criminal, whose wrist was broken – tough luck mate - was released with a caution and my friend went to court for his so-called attack on someone, that threatened to kill him.

Rightly the judge took one look at this case and threw it out instantly, but it tells you everything you need to know about our bonkers criminal justice system. Criminals should be afraid to break the law, to steal our possessions and threaten our safety. Instead they commit their crimes with impunity, knowing they're unlikely to get caught. They are laughing at us.

Meanwhile this week the guardian’s Polly Toynbee writes that prison doesn't work and we should somehow release these people or lock fewer up.

What a terrifying idea. Of course I doubt she would be impacted by such measures – I'm assuming she lives in a salubrious suburb of London. It would be ordinary Brits that would suffer the consequences of a more forgiving approach to crime. Ordinary Brits who would be afraid to leave their house, for fear of being robbed or attacked, if they aren't already.

We are now on the side of criminals not the public. We now have a culture in which you can't put barbed wire on the fence outside your home, because anybody trying to break into the house could get injured by it.

Well I say that if you enter my home or my property, you've left your human rights at the door. Don't forget the story of the Tony Martin imprisoned for shooting someone on his land. How could he possibly know what the burglar’s intention was. He did the right thing, he protected his property and his family, and for that he was punished.

Tony Blair was spot on when he said tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime. I'm all for tackling the issues which can be behind many crimes – mental health, deprivation, lack of education, drug abuse, addiction but we've got to clobber those who do wrong too. And for the worst, repeat offenders, throw the book at them, lock them up and throw away the key.

The law is the law, it's time to respect it. It's time for the criminals, to suffer some tough love. And if they don't like it, tough luck.