A Mere Formality

Three unemployed men, all in their late forties, pleaded guilty before Mr Scully SM to charges on being unlawfully in a building. Prosecution evidence stated that the men had been seen entering the empty building and were later approached by the police. They had admitted to the police that they knew they had no right to be there and had taken shelter to have a drink. Prosecution also stated that there was no evidence of intention to commit any crime other than illegal entry.

Speaking in their defence the men said they had been fairly drunk and had sought shelter to continue drinking. One defendant said he was unemployed because he had only just come off a sickness benefit.

Mr Scully sentenced all the defendants to two months imprisonment. He confined his comments to saying that "calling for a probation report would be a mere formality."

Having known two of the defendants for several months, I would venture to disagree with Mr Scully. These two defendants are unlikely to be shocked into realising the errors of their ways by a term of imprisonment having experienced its fine rehabiltating effects before.

Neither man is a great menance to society, but rather they are menances to themselves, being heavy, regular drinkers, and in one case a drinker of methylated spirits. They will serve their term of imprisonment, come out, and then more than likely, immediately hit the bottle hard to make up for lost time.

The answer to a problem of this nature is complicated, the struggle for the rehabilitation of an alcoholic or near alcoholic is a long and difficult one. It very often commences by calling for a probation report, but of course, it can be more easily shelved by "dispensing with that formality."

The case in question only took a few minutes to decide, as so many cases do. The magistrate's court is always full and "justice" is rapid. But the answer to the question of petty crime is not to repeatedly imprison petty criminals and invalids in the name of "protecting society" All such people are themselves a part of society and the whole question of their treatment must always being from that reality.