Zacs - //If TTT means places of incarceration which act as a deterrent, then he's correct but this will be in conflict with your view of 'civilized' Andy. //
I would not wish to speak for TTT, but if deduce correctly, his view (and feel free to chip in if I am wrong TTT) - is that our jails are far too soft, and we should be keeping prisoners in far harsher conditions than he perceives that we do in the UK.
My view is that the incarceration and loss of liberty is the punishment, and in a civilised society, that is as far as we would wish to go - I do not believe that prisons are the 'holiday camps' of tabloid perception.
As far as a 'deterrent' goes - it may work for a once-incarcerated criminal who may avoid going back, it is no deterrent at all to anyone else, because no criminal every believes he will be caught.