Shoplifters are getting lighter punishments than families who overfill
their bins, the country's prosecutions watchdog said yesterday.
The comments by Stephen Wooler, the Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution
Service, will inflame the row over the march towards 'soft justice'
under Labour.
More than half of all crimes are now dealt with outside court as hundreds
of thousands of offenders escape with cautions or on-the-spot fines
for theft, loutish behaviour and smoking cannabis each year.
But at the same time, otherwise law-abiding citizens who commit bin
'crimes' or stray into bus lanes are being hit with fines of up to
£120.
In evidence to a committee of MPs, Mr Wooler said: 'I could point
to parts of the country where you might attract a £60 fine or
fixed penalty for shoplifting or criminal damage and yet from the
local authority a large fine if you overfill your wheelie bin or in
London, if you are in a bus lane, it would be even more.'
