THERE are often occasions when the saying “crime doesn’t pay” is ridiculed.

And there are definitely some cases in which it appears that perpetrators do get off too lightly.

But Cardiff Crown Court yesterday made a decision which we would think would satisfy many critics of our justice system.

Jayne Rand, who was sentenced last year for stealing no fewer than 905 handbags from different stores, including House of Fraser in Cwmbran, was back in court yesterday.

This time she was back before the court in a proceeds of crime hearing.

Rand had stolen hundreds of bags from a wider ranged of shops over a three year period, to sell on to unsuspecting buyers.

She had obviously made a significant amount of money from doing so.

But after being caught, thanks to eagle-eyed staff in Cwmbran, and the extent of her crimes became known, she was sentence to two 18 month prison sentences to run concurrently.

That might have been the extent of her punishment. But yesterday, after serving her time, she was in court to hear a judge order her to pay back a total of £117,171,70 within six months.

That is a huge amount of money which gives some indication of the value of the goods she had stolen. Coming on top of her prison sentence, it means that in at least this case crime has most definitely not paid.