IN the run-up to the election which gave Tony Blair his coveted third term in Downing Street, the electorate's desire to see tough action taken against anti-social behaviour was placed at the top of the campaigning agenda.

It is hard to see how that fits with yesterday's decision to allow a drug dealer to walk free from Teesside Crown Court.

Even Thomas Scarth's own barrister had believed that a prison sentence was "inevitable" after undercover police caught his client with 83 wraps of heroin and his own business cards.

But 19-year-old Scarth must have been doing cartwheels on his way home last night after he was let off with a suspended sentence and community-based orders.

We appreciate the balancing act judges have to perform. On the one hand they are told to be tough on crime. On the other, they are told that our prisons are too full.

But drug dealers are the scourge of our society. Their activities breed more criminals and spread further misery for victims of crime.

What kind of message was delivered by yesterday's decision? That you can get away with dealing in drugs and preying on vulnerable people as long as you are young, plead guilty, and keep it in proportion.

If that is the case, we suggest that Britain really does have a serious problem.