Burglary sentencing

Stuff reports:

Not one person convicted of burglary or aggravated burglary has received the maximum penalty for the crimes in recent years.

And in most cases in which burglary was the most serious charge a person faced, jail sentences were avoided.

Data released under the Official Information Act comes at a time of heightened pressures on police to attend every burglary.

The maximum jail term for burglary is 10 years. For aggravated burglary, it is 14 years.

Despite more than 11,000 convictions for both offences, nobody for at least the past four years has received the maximum penalty.

And some burglars will have been convicted scores of times.

ACT leader David Seymour favoured a “three strikes” approach, with a mandatory three-year jail term for burglars found guilty of the crime a third time.

“I don’t believe anyone will be opposed to incapacitating them for three years.”

Seymour said some young burglars might deserve a second, or even third, chance.

“Once can be a mistake. Twice can be a mistake. But three, you’re a serial burglar.”

Sounds good to me.