Irish Examiner View: Falling short - sentences reduced

Cork Circuit Court. Photo: File photo

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin, speaking at Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday, expressed a frustration shared by many of his fellow citizens when he wondered if there was any point in sending people convicted of crime, or crimes, to jail.

He was speaking in the case of a serial fraudster he had sent to jail for 18 months but had served only five months. In an earlier case, in November, 2018, the judge jailed Emma Fehily for two and a half years but in that instance she served only five months.