By CricketCountry Staff
The former England captain Mike Brearley, said that Mohammad Aamer, who is currently in prison for his role in the spot-fixing scandal, should be treated more leniently.
Published: Dec 20, 2011, 11:21 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 20, 2011, 11:21 PM (IST)
Mohammad Aamer was sentenced six months imprisonment after he pleaded guilty during spot fixing trial © Getty Images
By CricketCountry Staff
Mumbai: Dec 20, 2011
The former England captain Mike Brearley, said that Mohammad Aamer, who is currently in prison for his role in the spot-fixing scandal, should be treated more leniently.
“We also need to recognise that the pressure put on the young player by criminal bookies or their agents, or by their corrupt team-mates, can be appalling,” Brearley said during the World Cricket Summit in Mumbai.
“As a result, some of those involved might need to be treated with compassion, especially if they admit their guilt and are willing to be enlisted in the battle against corruption. Deterrent and retributive justice tempered with mercy and discrimination is vital in sentencing and punishing.
“I don’t think the whole truth has been told yet, or can be told. The 18-year old Mohammad Aamer, who was subject to pressure and was, I believe, uninterested in any illegal financial gain, should have been, and I think should now be, treated much more leniently.
“Like all secret organisations that recruit the naïve for illegal activities, the criminals linked to gambling draw people in by involving them first in activities that seem of a minor importance,” Brearley said, adding that such activities could include information about the pitch or fitness of players in the dressing room. “And once in, threats against the player or his family may make it extremely difficult to get out. In the strenuous search for exemplary punishment, there has to be room for giving a misguided young player a second chance.”
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