I suppose it is hardly surprising that Professor Andrew Ashworth, writing in a pamphlet for the Howard League for Penal Reform, an organisation committed, in the words of it's Research Director Anita Dockley, to "reducing the flow of people into the penal system" ie not sending anyone to jail, should advocate the abolition of prison sentences for those convicted of theft or fraud.
Where he and Francis Cook, the League's Chief Executive, show their lack of understanding or connection with 'real life', rather than hypothetical academia is in their alternatives to prison.
They advocate the return of the property stolen and a system of fines and compensation. What they fail to understand, or if they do understand to ignore, is that the stolen goods can rarely be returned, the thieves have already been to Cash Converters to dispose of their ill-gotten gains and spent the money on booze or drugs, and they have no income with which to pay a realistic fine, let alone compensation.
The total monetary penalty a court can impose is one dictated by what can be repaid within 12 months. For someone on benefit, and most thieves are, this equates to 52 times the weekly deduction the DSS will take from benefit, £5 per week, meaning the total a court can impose is just £260.
Take away the court cost of £80, the Victim Surcharge, a minimum of £20, a fine at Level A with a third off for a timely guilty plea, £37 and there is only £123 left for, in Francis Cook's words "the much needed compensation", which would be of little benefit to someone who has had goods to a value of £250 taken which, according to the warped thinking of Professor Ashworth does "little harm"!
