REDDITCH United chairman Chris Swan has claimed the fine Swindon Town received for their illegal approach for striker Jermaine Hylton is no ‘deterrent for theft’.

The County Ground outfit have been hit by a £1,000 fine and severely warned over their future conduct after they admitted a charge from the Football Association for approaching the player, who they signed on a two-and-a-half year deal in January, without giving seven days' formal written notice.

But the chairman of Southern League club Redditch, who Hylton, who is currently sidelined with a fractured collarbone, was registered with at the time, feels that the punishment does not fit the crime.

“What Swindon have done is tantamount to theft,” Swan told the Swindon Advertiser.

“They have got a player, who in a couple years could be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, for nothing and have only been fined £1,000.

“That is no deterrent for theft.”

When the Advertiser revealed Swindon had won the race to sign the highly-rated striker back in January, Town chairman Lee Power claimed in an interview with Link Sport - now totalswindonsport.com - on January 2 that the reports were “false” and “jumping the gun” and they had “put in the seven-day approach”.

The chairman, in the same interview, however, admitted that the club had spoken to the player.

The following day, Town manager Mark Cooper said that the club “followed procedure” and were waiting to speak to the player once the seven days notice had expired.

However, the FA charged the club, stating: “it is alleged that on or around 1 January 2015, Swindon Town FC approached a player, Jermaine Hylton, without giving seven days’ formal written notice to Redditch United FC, the club to which he was registered, which is breach of Rule C.2(a)(ii)."

Swindon admitted the charge in July and requested a non-personal hearing.

Following that hearing, the governing body fined and warned the club.

And while the process has taken more than eight months to complete, Swan is happy with the investigation that the FA conducted, even though he was less than impressed with the outcome.

“The FA are probably hamstrung by their own sanctions,” the Redditch chairman said. “But throughout the whole process, they have been very even-handed and I have no complaints over that or how long it took.

“We felt very strongly that something like this doesn’t happen to another club - that is why we made the complaint.

“Redditch moved six players into full-time football last season and none of the five other clubs we dealt with showed the disrespect that Swindon did.

“The fine they got was derisory. They should have got a points deduction or a transfer embargo.”

Swindon Town declined to comment when contacted by the Advertiser.