The judge must be puddled. The burglar should have been jailed, no question of that. Community service orders are soft options, imo. By all acounts that low life was crowing at getting off so lightly!
If community service orders are such soft options, why is it that many criminals don't like them? From what I have been told by both ex-cons and those who care for them on such punishments, it has to do with the fact that they don't like the fact that they have to think about what they are having to do. In jail, everything is organised for them, from the time of meals to the activities they have to complete; whereas CSOs require them to take responsibility for their lives and their participation in the CSO activities.