The Rights of Vulnerable Groups | The S v M Case

M was a compulsive credit card fraudster. After being convicted of purchasing goods in a number of stores knowing full well she lacked the credit to pay for them, she was given a suspended prison sentence. She then committed the crimes again and while out on bail continued to do so for a third time. Finding herself faced with time in prison, she argued that this would separate her from her children for whom she was the only caregiver. The magistrate felt that she should have thought about her children before she committed the offences, and she ended up having to serve two years in prison. In the Constitutional Court all the Judges agreed that what was at stake was not her rights but the rights of the children. The majority judgment written by Justice Sachs used social work reports together with restorative justice principles of keeping her out of jail, subject to her paying back the money, receiving counselling for compulsive behaviour, and undertaking appropriate forms of community service.