Woman commits insurance fraud. Involves (innocent) elderly driver. Has 59 previous convictions.

Get Real

As per title, this woman who has 59 previous convictions is convicted of insurance fraud. The added salt in the wound is I can only imagine the stress the elderly driver was put under during this bogus claim.

Gets convicted, receives no jail time. Despite having left victims from her other crimes such as theft, deception etc, and society as a whole on 59 other occasions.

I'd consider myself quite liberal. But come on. Engaging with the probation services clearly didn't help her the other 59 times.

There needs to be a balance I'll agree. But the carrot has been used and failed. I'm not saying take the carrot away completely. But this woman should definitely be in prison, availing of supports in there.

Its one area of taxes I'd gladly pay more for to see happening. What are the bets she's up to something again, with another victim, a 62nd use of Garda time, and free legal aid?

Rant over. I know these threads are a dime a dozen. But we're only seeing what's reported in the papers compared to the literal thousands of cases every day.

I honestly believe, its the same re-occurring crimes, by the same small section of people, that cost all those resources for the rest of us. Surely, it's cost effective to imprison them, and throw courses, counselling, trades at them?

If it cost 100k a year per prisoner, I'd rather that, than 15k a year in dole, an unknown amount in legal aid, and tens if not 100s of thousands in lost revenue for businesses, Garda time, peoples personal possessions being taken etc.

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/woman-37-who-faked-road-crash-with-elderly-motorist-avoids-jail-term-40986625.html

Am I so out of touch in thinking this? Should I just take a chill pill? 😂 What's your views lads

enricoh

Saw some fella got done for claiming his dead parents pension today. He got away with it for 33 years!! and got over a million. Sure the country is there to be milked dry!

What about a Devil's Island type solution? Rent some god forsaken rock in the middle of pacific, that has fresh water, dump these serial offenders on same rock for the rest of their lives, with yearly delivery of basic supplies and post. To be honest what will sort this out is a general break down in law and order, so this scumbag won't get jailtime, but I won't get jailtime either for beating them like a ginger stepchild if they tried that with my parents

Spanish Eyes

She is preggo now. Free pass for her, and well timed.

Judges need a bit of a wake up and smell the coffee moment. As for yer man down in Cork who defrauded SW of 1million euro, yep you read that right, his free legal aid has been extended to allow a Senior Counsel act for him. Am I missing something here?

Skill Magill

its not really a hundred grand per year per prisoner though. Its what it costs whether they are there or not, but i'd jail anybody with more than 5 convictions

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118076895#Comment_118076895

it would cost substantially less to run a Baghdad style dungeon

DarkJager21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118076895#Comment_118076895

Oh absolutely, and the more convictions you have the less free time and visits and general niceties you get. 5 convictions plus? You’ll be lucky to get an hour per day of natural light.

Galwayguy35

59 previous convictions.

No doubt the 2 of them are dole lifers as well.

tayto lover

We’ve turned into a real “ mug country “.

Article is a bit unclear,is this woman in jail or not

Edit:im tick and only read headline now🤦‍♂️

The company I work for installed live/constant dashcams front& rear a couple of years ago in all company vechicles . It's totally tamper-proof, once you engage a forward gear camera records automatically, same in reverse/ rear camera. When originally installed there was a bit of kick back, guys thought it was too much intrusion/ 'big brother' stuff.......but when I read these nonsense bs claims I think its a brilliant/ essential system.....we had one big 'winner' already.........on molesworth street, Dublin........car stops in traffic.....then reversed into company van.......no winner though

Immortal Starlight

She should be in jail. Courts are a joke.

Jequ0n

The most incredible part of the article is her supposed age. 37? Really?

Multipass

We need to build US style prisons, and start a 3 strikes and you’re out approach - she should be facing substantial jail time.

Mrs OBumble

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118076969#Comment_118076969

Can you imagine anyone hiring them?

Contraception should be compulsory.

Pawwed Rig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118077304#Comment_118077304

Because the US have cracked law and order?

There is little we should be copying from the US justice system. Not to say I don't agree that sentencing here should be more meaningful but to think the US is the answer?

osarusan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118077304#Comment_118077304

More prison space - yes, yes, yes. 3 strikes laws (or any automatic/mandatory sentencing laws) - no, no, no.

Removing discretion from judges would be a step in the wrong direction.

But better/different sentencing guidelines would be a step in the right direction.

Multipass

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118077501#Comment_118077501

Did I say they have? What they do have is plenty of prisons that cost the taxpayer very little. We on the other hand can’t even jail violent criminals for very long due to lack of space.

JustJoe7240

She looks like she's close to 50

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118077248#Comment_118077248

What I took as the most incredible part was that she's got a bun in oven!!!!!!

2011

I'm sure she has learnt her lesson and won't do it again.

Hangdogroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058214923/woman-commits-insurance-fraud-involves-innocent-elderly-driver-has-59-previous-convictions

She's not dying of starvation, that's for sure.

Pawwed Rig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118078259#Comment_118078259

Conviction number 60 is what turned my life around anyway

Montage of Feck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118076877#Comment_118076877

I was going to agree with you until I got to the second paragraph, "beating them like a ginger stepchild" just wtf?

Shao Kahn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118077501#Comment_118077501

Locking people up for long periods is not the sole preserve of the US. It happens in many countries all over the world.

It's just that the US gets far more publicity, and their high incarceration rates and lengthy sentences get reported on far more often.

There is also this erroneous claim made by many people, that their high incarceration rates actually do nothing to combat crime or even perhaps make it worse - despite there being scant legitimate evidence to prove this. You could just as easily claim that their crime rates would be 10 times higher if their sizable prison population were back out on the streets tomorrow. (In fact there would be considerably more evidence to back up the latter position)

Now, do I think throwing bad people in prison with lengthy sentences is necessarily the answer to the problem? No, not really.

But it's actually more about how we do this, rather than it being a poor method. If you think about these people, what has usually gone wrong in their lives for them to turn into criminal scum? And very often repeat offenders?

Well, I would say it usually starts from a very young age in their home/local environment. So putting someone like that into a prison among the very same people as themselves, is clearly not going to work.

Also, just giving them access to rehabilitative services is not necessarily going to work either. Why? Because even though many of these people involved in prison rehab services, are decent well meaning individuals and perhaps even well educated - they are very often completely the wrong type of characters to be whipping bad people back into shape. They're usually just too nice, and the approach to rehabilitative programs is just too soft to be truly effective in a real world setting.

These people lacked discipline and tough love when they were growing up as kids. So the only way to realistically right that ship, and have any chance of turning these people back onto the correct course towards being a decent member of society, is to give them that discipline and tough love approach now as adults.

I would take a much tougher approach to prison life in general. I would of course, stop short of committing any human rights abuses on prisoners. (that goes without saying) But I would go right to the very edge of what is possible in this regard, and basically take a military boot camp style approach. But this would involve relaxing the current attitude towards our victim-hood culture in society, where anyone can cry about the most innocuous things and find a soft deluded member of society who will fight their imagined battle for them.

You cannot allow that culture to creep into such a system. It simply doesn't work, as evidenced by our current soft approach to prison life - which clearly isn't working. It has to be 100% commitment to the tough love approach, or else it will fail.

Give prisoners two very clear paths. The rehabilitative path, and the non-engagement path. Both should be equally tough, but in slightly different ways. There should be no easy time in prison. No comfortable cozy lifestyles. Prison should be both a punishment and a path to redemption. One without the other is rather pointless.

If you choose not to engage, you get the toughest prison time imaginable. Basically, so miserable that your only option is to engage.

The rehabilitative path should be very tough, with a zero tolerance approach and high standards constantly pushed aggressively. Just like in the military. It should be both physically and mentally difficult to be effective. 

But with an understanding that people will slip up, and need to be given many chances to redeem themselves. If you show consistency and hard work in bettering yourself, you get rewarded and you get some perks - just like we all do out in the real world. These should be easily lost through bad behavior, and difficult to gain back. 

In terms of specifics with regard to rehabilitative work, there should be an emphasis on the practical skills and behaviors required to survive out in the real world. Not some of the current wishy washy life skills nonsense you normally get. That stuff looks good on a power-point slide, but doesn't translate very well when someone leaves prison.

Everything should be practical in nature, and be easily measured and applied against what is needed outside the prison walls. 

Whether someone needs psychological help, anger management, help with substance abuse, entrepreneurial skills to start their own business etc etc. Whatever it is, it needs to be tangible and pragmatic in nature. Not a bunch of random words on a page or lecture slide. You need to put people in situations that they are going face outside prison, and find out how they behave / react to those situations. And find practical solutions so you are setting people up to succeed. 

Rather than what we are doing currently, sending damaged people back out into society, many of whom have spent years in a cozy prison hotel room. Surrounded by like minded scum. Of course they're going to re-offend. You haven't altered the path they've been on.  

Does some of that sound a bit extreme? Yes, I will admit it probably does. But then the path many of these people have been on in their lives is very extreme too. The soft approach to sentences, prison life and rehabilitative services is clearly not working. I think you need to have the stomach to try a different more aggressive approach, if you want to see different end results.

/rant.

Wibbs

A few days back there was a council worker who had been a net contributor to society, never in trouble with the law, who in a moment of daftness after years of work related stress(for which he was hospitalised) got six months for releasing a couple of rats into the local council office. He even brought money to pay for the damage.

This individual and her brother with over 80 convictions between them including theft, public order offences, assaults and death threats get probation? You really do have to scratch your head over the disparities and nonsense sentencing that all too regularly affect Irish "justice".

Scoundrel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118077871#Comment_118077871

That was probably the brothers doing as well

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118078343#Comment_118078343

Its a very politically incorrect simile meaning a severe beating, its even apppeared in network US tv

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118078332#Comment_118078332

Ah cmon, until you 'hit' treble figures you're not really ready to turn the 'ship around'

freshpopcorn

If only our robbing government provided her with a mansion, communion dresses, etc she wouldn't have to resort to this kind of behavior! 😁

Potential-Monke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118078343#Comment_118078343

It's why I, as a ginger, have no feelings towards all the other -ism's until my own plight is recognised and supported by legislation! :pac:

This is just another example of the society we have created due to free everything. Wonder if she's renting or in her 4eva home.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118078426#Comment_118078426

No discount for him... Probably not much in the line of 'repeat business' expected from that chap 😒

TDM900

Lads,cool down,we have a legal system here which exists purely to make money for it's practitioners,the concept of justice is generally a side show.

Now,slow down on the motorways and keep on working.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118078343#Comment_118078343

Exactly! "....like a red-headed stepchild" , has a much better ring to it 😃