Repeat offenders should face ‘five strikes’ policy

A “five strikes” policy for repeat offenders should be introduced with a minimum jail term of seven years for a fifth conviction, according to one of the country’s best known legal figures.

Barry Galvin, founding legal officer with the Criminal Assets Bureau and state solicitor for Cork up to late last year, said the policy could apply to offences such as burglaries where probation acts and suspended sentences were often used without much deterrent effect.

He read out the “rap” sheet of one criminal, who racked up 140 convictions in multiple court appearances, almost all for burglaries, before being jailed. The example was not unusual, Mr Galvin said.