Immigrant crooks go free to save cash
A JUDGE who wanted to jail two immigrant sisters said he could not justify the enormous cost of keeping them in prison after they wasted almost £20,000 on a “ludicrous” trial.
Lithuanian nationals Dora and Vida Bogdanovic had previous convictions for theft. But this time they pleaded not guilty to trying to steal a woman’s purse and insisted on a crown court trial.
After three days a jury at Preston Crown Court dismissed their defence and once they were found guilty they admitted they had carried out the crime.
Judge Christopher Cornwell called the pair a “disgrace” who deserved to be jailed, but he said he could not allow the public to meet yet another bill. Dora, 53, and Vida, 45, of Eccles, Greater Manchester, were handed 30-week sentences suspended for two years. They were also told to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work, tagged and placed on a 6pm to 6am curfew.
The case comes after David Cameron ditched plans to offer reductions in sentences to people who plead guilty at the earliest opportunity.
They pleaded not guilty to trying to steal a woman’s purse and insisted on a crown court trial
Tory MP Nigel Evans said: “It is shocking that money is being squandered on abuse of the justice system by people who have got form.”
He said that EU citizens who commit a crime should be returned to their home state “in certain circumstances”.