IT’S time for another edition of our occasional series, Things People Didn’t go to Jail for in Swindon.

The most striking case was that of a bloke called Mustafa Ali.

In 2015 he was put on probation after groping three women in the space of 48 hours.

One woman was attacked in a shop in front of her daughter.

Within months he was caught flashing and was jailed for 31 months.

His latest offending saw him in the West Swindon Centre, licking his lips and inviting girls to his bed.

He suggested that two 13-year-olds come back with him to smoke cannabis.

Mustafa Ali is a free man, having been given a suspended sentence.

One of the reasons he wasn’t locked up, apparently, was that locking him up before didn’t work.

That is open to debate. How many offences, especially involving children, did he commit while in his cell? If the answer is ‘none’ then it’s fair to say locking him up does indeed work.

A fellow sex offender with an apparent fondness for the underaged is Paul Webb, who repeatedly attempted over social media to entice and persuade a 13-year-old boy to perform sexual acts. He requested a meeting.

Webb is also free, having been given a community order and some other inconveniences.

It hasn’t been a case of leniency all the way, though.

A 19-year-old kidnapper called Billy Livingstone also appeared in court.

He grabbed a 13-year-old boy in a burger bar, dragged him to a car, bundled him inside, drove off and held him captive.

Livingstone was jailed for a whopping two years, of which he will probably serve a year or less.

Well, that’s my faith in justice restored...