What sort of deterrent is this?

[saru]

http://www.bedsonsunday.com/bedsonsunda ... ?ID=257099

Junkie robbed from post office to fund his habit
A former post office employee broke down and wept as he was sentenced for stealing £3,057.31 from the mail to pay off drug dealers.

Matthew Wick, of Stevenage, worked in the delivery office at Royston in Hertfordshire, which handles Bedfordshire mail with an SG (Stevenage) postcode, such as that for Sandy and Biggleswade.

On Tuesday, Bedford magistrates heard that Wick, 29, had been singled out as the culprit after special delivery envelopes went missing at the office.

Confronted with the evidence by managers, Wick 'began to shake and was physically sick'.

He later pleaded guilty to seven counts of theft committed at the Royston office between July and October last year.

He told the court that he had been threatened by drug dealers to whom he owed money, having developed a £300- a-week cocaine habit.

The Reverend Teddy Forwalker appeared as a character witness for Wick and told the court that Wick had helped him with his 'domestic life'.

He said that he had known Wick for many years and that he was always a good and helpful character.

Mr Forwalker said that he sometimes needed help because he suffers from the early stages of Parkinson's Disease.

The court also heard that Wick had promised to repay every penny he owed and that the loss of his job, which he said he loved, had affected him deeply.

Sentencing Wick to a 12-month community order, the bench told Wick: "Everything that has been said about you tells us that you are not a hardened criminal. You must pay back the money you stole but we are not going to make you pay for the cost of the Royal Mail's internal investigation. So once your sentence is over that is this incident over with. Please remember that it could have been a lot worse for you."

[steviemac]

fine lock him up which we pay for, drug rehab which we pay for, criminal record means little chance of employment so claim housing and benefits which we pay for .... or give him a reason to change his life,let the manager become a mentor or another co worker, let him pay tax/ni to contribute to his rehab and strictly monitor him at work untill he proves he's rehabilitated. does it again then we can all say we tried but bye bye.

[k979aaa]

fine lock him up which we pay for, drug rehab which we pay for, criminal record means little chance of employment so claim housing and benefits which we pay for .... or give him a reason to change his life,let the manager become a mentor or another co worker, let him pay tax/ni to contribute to his rehab and strictly monitor him at work untill he proves he's rehabilitated. does it again then we can all say we tried but bye bye.

I agree with you but let this be a lesson to one and all drug's anit good for you or anyone.

[andy2007]

Isn't the Judge missing the point?
He stole, because he couldn't pay what he owed to the Dealers. So how's he going to pay the money he stole back without a job?

Of course it costs us (the Taxpayers) a lot of money to lock people up for long periods. But won't it cost us muchj more in the long run, if he carries on stealing to pay the Courts and the Dealers?

Of course, Drugs do, get into Prisons, but at least he won't cause any problems, beyond the cost of keeping him locked up. If he want's to continue taking Drugs till it kills him, then it's no real loss for Society. Just don't let people like him drag anyone else down with them.