Sir, – It will surely come as a surprise to many to find the Irish Penal Reform Trust arguing that white-collar criminals should not be sent to jail.
But in his letter (July 27th) the executive director of the trust does just that, arguing that their crimes are without violence and prison is expensive and counter-productive.
He does not elaborate on the latter point in regard to such criminals, nor does he indicate how many cells in Irish prisons are currently occupied by “financial offenders”.
Surprisingly, he advocates thus after raising the question of “how to measure and punish the harm caused by different forms of crime”. Does he regard financial crime as relatively harmless?
Finally, he claims that if financial offenders were allowed out into the community they could compensate society for the wrong they have done. Is he serious? – Yours, etc,