SO you think that if someone was unfortunate enough to be charged with fiddling housing benefit, then went to magistrates’ court and stood up and said in his or her defence: “It was a complete oversight on my behalf which I now regret, however, I have taken immediate steps to repay the whole sum and I can only assure the court there was no felonious intent on my behalf,” that he or she would be given a sympathetic hearing and told not to do it again and in future not to break the rules or bend them?

Bob Vincent, Manzil Way, Oxford