Cosgrave... a lawyers view....

... I prosecuted for 30 years. There are many offences for which the penalty is irrelevant. Class A drug sellers/importers will carry on doing it because they can make £20m + on a tranche of drugs. The penalty if caught (16+ years) is irrelevant because the reward is massive. The risk will be taken. A bloke walks into his bedroom and catches his best mate with his wife (and has a shotgun handy) will ice them both. Life inside will not prevent him. Jealously and rage wins out. Conversely, a minimum ban of 12m if you are done for drink driving deters the vast majority of people breaking the law. The penalty makes the crime not worth committing. It has a massive deterrent affect. Not riding out is easily preventable. It requires little thought. One is not tempted to do it for the sake of it IF the penalty is sufficient to deter. My point is this. If one were to treble the penalty for such an offence I am certain.....certain..... that it would reduce the prevalence of the offence by a huge factor. I would be willing to bet £ that a 72 day ban, as a minimum, would stop this immediately. It is an offence susceptible to being penalised out of existence. we simply require the will to do it.