Ireland's Eye: What's going on in the old sod

The 27-year-old, who has a three-year-old daughter, was found guilty in December of stealing the jeans from the Supertramp store in Londonderry City Center in August 2009.

The Strabane woman turned up at court without an overnight bag or money because she expected to be ordered to complete community service.

Sentencing Hewitt, Judge Piers Grant, who said the young mother had every opportunity to admit her guilt but failed to do so, described the jeans theft as “mean, pre-meditated and brazen.”

It costs £77,831 a year to house a prisoner in Northern Ireland, so it might cost taxpayers £19,457.75 to jail Hewitt for three months.

In the midst of growing condemnation at the sentence, Hewitt’s jail term will be heard by the Court of Appeal. Her family, who did not know about her offense, described the sentence as “madness.”

The chair of the assembly’s justice committee, Lord Maurice Morrow, said there was no justification for Hewitt’s crime, but he was shocked at her punishment.

“There is no doubt that a three month prison sentence is a severe punishment for a relatively minor crime, particularly given how leniently much more serious crimes have been treated in the past,” he said.

Morrow has tabled assembly questions to Justice Minister David Ford to ask how many people have been sent to prison after stealing items of low value over the past five years.

The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA said, “We need fairness, and therefore we need to establish if all those convicted of theft for items of less than £10 have received similar sentences.

Morrow said he was a “strong advocate” of jailing serious offenders, but added, “Even in a case where someone has chosen not to admit their guilt it does not justify handing out a particularly harsh sentence.”

Belfast News Letter

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