The traditional law-enforcement tool of prosecution remains important, he says, because if the Mr Bigs of organised crime are not put away “people would lose confidence in the criminal justice system”.
“But whether it’s really effective [on its own] in reducing the harm organised crime causes if these people are still running business from prison . . . is the question.”
Osborne, a diminutive twinkly character, sits like a spider at the heart of the Soca empire. The agency is still little known: partly because its work (much of it covert) is shrouded in secrecy; partly because public relations have been low profile; and partly, too, because it is relatively new.
Soca came into being in April 2006 when it was set up as Britain’s answer to the FBI, aimed at taking on the £40 billion organised crime industry.