I’m not sure what they’re trying to say here:

More people with criminal records should be made magistrates to increase diversity among the judiciary, the chairman of Magistrates Association said last night.

Diversity in what? Criminality?

John Bache insisted a more representative set of magistrates would make criminals feel less alienated by the system.

Giving prisoners keys to the cells would make them feel less confined by the bars, too.

He told the Daily Telegraph: ‘We all make mistakes, we all do things we shouldn’t have done. But we want to increase diversity. ‘And if we did say anyone who’s done anything wrong ever isn’t going to be appointed, that’s no way at all to increase diversity.’

Again, diversity in what?

Mr Bache, who has sat on the bench since 1989, added: ‘We’re trying very hard to increase diversity, but it isn’t as easy as you’d think. ‘For a start people aren’t applying from ethnic minorities to the same degree as they are from white people – because they’ve got the idea that people from their backgrounds don’t become magistrates. And that is obviously erroneous.’

Ah, now I get it: in order to encourage more ethnic minorities to become magistrates we might need to overlook criminal convictions. That’s a rather refreshingly frank admission from an unlikely source, so much so I doubt he realises what he’s actually saying. After all, he also said this:

He suggested having a character from a popular soap become a magistrate could raise awareness of the issue.

Remember when Britain was a serious country? Ah, those halcyon, bygone days.

(H/T JuliaM)