DUDLEY MP Ian Austin is demanding zero tolerance and tough jail sentences for yobs who flout the law.

The Labour MP, who is a member of the parliamentary Home Affairs Committee, spoke out in the wake of last week’s Channel 4 documentary Cops and Robbers which featured prolific criminal Jason ‘Stokesy’ Stokes.

Stokes boasted he is a one-man crime wave, he has more than 50 convictions on his record and the program prompted an angry reaction from the Dudley North MP.

Mr Austin said: “I think it created a terrible impression of Dudley. I think the people they featured are a disgrace. You can find them in any town so I wish they’d chosen somewhere else to film it.

“I think most people will agree with me that the best way to prevent them robbing the rest of us is to lock them up.

“If they’d had much stiffer sentences earlier on they might have learnt the error of their ways. I think we need a zero tolerance approach to these people.

“Criminals are getting so-called cautions and warnings for offences like assault, robbery, domestic violence and even sexual assault and rape. That means they never even go to court.”

Mr Austin acknowledges cops in the show were doing their best to get Stokes locked up but he also blasted attempts by police to change the behaviour of repeat offenders by working with them to break a cycle of criminality.

During a BBC radio interview he described police partnerships with criminals as guff and a completely failed approach.

The outraged MP also said a senior police officer who was interviewed on the subject “sounded more like a social worker.”

West Midlands Police has defended its approach to dealing with what the force calls a small – but persistent – group of repeat offenders who are responsible for a large proportion of crime.

Chief Superintendent Chris Johnson said: “Anyone who knows Dudley knows it’s a fantastic place to live and work and we want to ensure it stays that way by keeping up the pressure on this small group of criminals who can unfairly tarnish our town.

“The aim of the documentary was to show how we want to work with these persistent offenders to try and help them turn their life around but as the series shows, where they refuse to play ball we’re not afraid to lock them up.”

Reformed offender Dave Nolan spoke up in defence of the strategy, claiming without intervention he would either be dead or in prison.

Mr Nolan, aged 27, said: “That sort of approach worked for me better than arresting me. I think with lots of people projects like that are more effective than constantly targeting them to let them know you’re on their case.

“To be honest it angered me when I saw the show. Just to see the arrogance of the main guy Stokesy and the way he was saying he wasn’t scared of prison and refusing all the help from the police.”

Brockmoor and Pensnett councillor Judy Foster, who represents the area where parts of the documentary was filmed stressed the show was the first in a series and she would not come to any conclusions until further episodes had been broadcast.

Cllr Foster however seems to disagree with Mr Austin, she said: “Prison is not the be all and end all, police are trying to work with individuals to reduce criminal activity.”