Yesterdays Sydney press had a story about a theft of over a million dollars from and employer.
Much of it was not recovered.
The sentence was, 12 or 18 months weekend detention!
That statue of justice has blindfold and scales but should it be deaf and stupid as well?
How can we call this justice while sending people to serve years in prison for stealing so much less?
Are middle class criminals getting a nod and a wink?
It looks like the so called British system of justice is a farce.
No system that sends so many Aboriginals to prison as a matter of course[ not saying they are not guilty] for so much less can claim to be balanced.

What makes you beleive that we have a British based judicial system ?
The Cannon law based legal system has been in place for avery long time and people like you are not able to identify it.
I do wonder if the accused was a Catholic and the chances of a Catholic Justice on the bench are pretty good if it was NSW.

Belly “Yesterdays Sydney press had a story about a theft of over a million dollars from and employer.
Much of it was not recovered.
The sentence was, 12 or 18 months weekend detention!”

That sentence seems manifestly inadequate but without understanding any mitigation who can really comment on it.

I would think “white collar” crimes should be pegged as serious as burglary and any other crime not involving bodily harm (either physical or psychological) to the property owner and should therefore reflect a sentence to match.

Well it seems we do not want to talk about the issue.
One poster referred to her, so had read the story yes it was a she.
And the money came from her employer a school.
Her husband took no part but lives in a home maybe funded by that money.
If a kid , [no respect for any thief] broke into 5 homes and stole a total of say $4000 he/she would be locked up.
NSW? come this is a nation wide issue white collar crime is in millions.
Surely more each year than the national total in all armed hold ups.
Now find me the comparative totals of time spent in prison.
Col you seem to support a justice that is a scrambled egg.

Belly "Col you seem to support a justice that is a scrambled egg."

maybe you should first explain that comment, because I can make no sense of it.

Perhaps it was a first time offence or there were other issues.

The law has become too lenient in many areas, some Judges preferring to keep all but those considered most dangerous out of our overcrowded prisons.

I know of many cases where a known criminal has successfully avoided jail time even after a string of break and enters.

Of course there is a difference between theft and theft occasioning actual bodily harm.

mitigation Col over one million dollars, stolen while in a position of trust, most not recovered.
Is mitigation reason enough for a weekend detention sentence but a bank robber can get 20 years?
Are our laws only for some?
Are the funds hidden to be spent later?
Have we discovered the perfect crime?
Steal from others in what we call white collar crime and be rich after sentence is served?

Belly “Mitigation…. “

Maybe I should be more explicit, I said “That sentence seems manifestly inadequate but without understanding any mitigation who can really comment on it.”

Is my way of saying, without the detail of the judges sentencing decision, it is hard(er) to understand the significance any “mitigating circumstances” which may have been considered, before commenting.

However, regardless of mitigating circumstances, I would wholly agree with you that restitution should be a component of the penalty and “restitution” should be drawn from all the resources of the offender, including all and any of those which may have been transferred to any “associates” to escape/avoid forfeiture.

Belly – You need to also remember what this person has lost which money can not put a value on. They would have lost the respect of the community they live in their friends and would also have their career destroyed. You trying to compare this person with common criminals is totally wrong. It’s a totally different social/economic group.

Is this person a threat to the community? No because he will never be in such a situation again where he has access to that much money which is not his.

This person will have lost more then any jail sentence can ever put on them.

The amount of time in jail is not a deterrent! Most crimes are committed because people think they can get away with it not because of the amount of time they will spend in jail if they get caught

Sorry easy times I just can not agree with you.
It was in fact a woman, it often is.
And at least hinted in evidence her and partner lived a very Good life on that money.
A great deal has never been found.
The good life may continue.
After the weekend detention ends or even during it.
A car thief too has to live with that bad name as do house breakers.
Sticks and stones mate.
And I doubt the cash would be returned to buy back that good name.
Again and again from funds of parents and citizens accounts to the massive thefts that have driven investors into bankrupts.
The current wall street crash is a thousand white collar crimes.
We set different standards of punishment for different crimes
why?
How many of the wall street criminals will serve time?

Belly
For goodness sake there has been laws in Australia to recoup funds by taking cars boats houses or anythng else purchased with funds from a crime.
In the case you are refering to they clearly couldnt make a connection.
Of course it is possible the husband worked hard to buy the house.
Taxtation would be all over such a case as well
They always are.
You dont get to keep houses purchased from illegal funds.
What a lot of rubbish!

"Yesterday's Sydney press had a story about a theft of over a million dollars from an employer."

"And the money came from her employer, a school."

You can bet it wasn't a public school!

Sorry, I've come to this thread a bit late, hadn't spotted it before.

I agree with Easy Times - the woman has already been amply punished, and also with Col - we don't know the mitigating circumstances. Besides which, as alluded to by Pelican, our prisons are already overcrowded. If every judge listened to the populist clamour for ever tougher prison sentences, we'd need jails in every neighbourhood, yours and mine included.

"How many of the wall street criminals will serve time?"

Good question, Belly. And when will multi-million dollar salaries and bonuses be viewed as an assault on the general population every bit as damaging as the criminal break and enter?