Criminal assets

I READ, with only small satisfaction, that the proceed of crimes laws have seen £80 million being confiscated from convicted criminals over the past ten years, which, when stated as £8m a year, really does not sound all that much if consideration is given to the massive sums associated with the illicit drugs industry.

Rather than spend too much time in self-congratulation at the Crown Office, it might be useful for the asset confiscators to accurately tell us how much of our money it cost to achieve that £80m. When subtracted from the top line, that figure might not look quite so golden.

Had there been a few more rogue bankers brought to justice in the past decade, the totals for confiscated assets would look much better; but there seems to be one law for some people and another law for the rest.

Jim Bradley

Thornfield Terrace

Selkirk