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Crime does pay: Disgrace of Customs blunder
MAJOR efforts have been made in recent years to ensure crime doesn't pay.
But a judge in Bradford was right to brand HM Revenue and Customs officials "incompetent" after he was forced to allow a leading drug dealer to keep the proceeds of his evil trade, which are estimated to total more than 4m.
The failure of the confiscation hearing because officials were too slow to bring it to court means heroin gang ringleader Zafar Iqbal will be able to enjoy assets, including a house in Bradford and a flat in Turkey, when he is released from prison later this year.
The fight against drugs is one of the most important facing the police, the courts and indeed society as a whole since it is implicated in so many crimes – from theft to murder – quite apart from its dreadful wider impact on individuals and families.
Making sure that those who are caught cannot benefit should be a basic goal of the justice system, not only as a punishment, but as a deterrent to others.
Police officers and the public will be rightly outraged by what Judge Roger Scott called the "negligence" of Revenue and Customs staff in failing to bring the case forward.
There is simply no excuse. A full inquiry into their failures should be carried out and those to blame should be summarily sacked.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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