OUR JUSTICE system is sometimes criticised for being too soft on criminals and letting them get away with their crimes.

We don’t always agree that this is the case and today we are carrying a report which shows that there are occasions when it has real bite.

Two brothers, Hughie and Terence Collins, who were found guilty of defrauding people to the tune of £695,000 were locked up for several years in 2015.

They had eventually been tracked down in Blaenavon.

In a separate hearing they were then ordered to sell property they owned in Ireland in order to re-pay the significant sums of money they had defrauded.

Two years on they had not done so and so found themselves back in court on a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice. for not adhering to the order.

They were each handed an even heftier jail term.

In addition their properties will now be sold by Enforcement Receivers to ensure that the original order to pay back the money will be honoured.

Proof that our justice system can, and does, hit the criminals where it hurts.

For these brothers surely the lesson now learned is that crime really does not pay.

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