Editorial: Receivers get off far too lightly

The maximum sentence for burglary is 10 years. Photo / Thinkstock

Every week there seems to be something new you can do with your phone, computer or iPad.

There are apps for everything from trying on makeup to monitoring your sleep.

Some are fun, some are dumb and some are totally unnecessary. However, I think one we should all have is "find my computer".

I recently heard of a case where a young mother had gone to take her child to kindy. She had a younger child with her and on this particular day didn't go straight home.

Lucky for her. Because, it seems, as soon as she left the street a car appeared in her drive and the occupants broke in and helped themselves to the family's possessions, including a computer and an iPad.

She had a "find my computer" app, so all she needed to do was activate it and as soon as her computer was turned on she knew where it was.

The police recovered these items but the people who had them claimed they were the receivers, not the burglars.

So what? They should get the same, if not a harsher, penalty. If the people who help themselves to others' possessions had no one to sell them to, the number of burglaries would drop dramatically. In my eyes, receivers are every bit as guilty as the burglars.

The maximum sentence for burglary is 10 years, whereas the sentence for receiving differs depending on the value of the goods received - seven years for $1000-plus, one year for $500-$999 and three months for $500. That's a big difference

Harsher penalties might help but, if every receiver of a stolen electronic device gets caught as soon as it is activated, maybe all of our homes will be a little bit safer.