BY ALL accounts, prior to last September, Rachael Victoria Phillips had led a good life.

Certainly she had no previous convictions and she spent her spare time helping young people through her work as a Scout troop leader.

And it was as she left a Scout meeting that an everyday, minor incident occurred. But in Rachael's case, the repercussions have become so exaggerated it may well ruin her life.

Rachael is the Scout leader who reversed into a parked car as she left a meeting in Great Lumley. When quizzed on the matter, she panicked and lied about her involvement. Worse, she asked Scouts who were with her at the time, to do the same.

Whether a cockerel crowed after she lied three times, I don't know, but the fact is that people have lied in moments of panic and fear since the dawn of time. It's wrong, but to err is human.

I was surprised at the severity of Rachael's sentence. Forty weeks' prison suspended for 18 months with 100 hours community service, plus a £150 fine and £1,300 costs.

It virtually matched that recently handed out to a drug dealer caught with 83 wraps of heroin. Despite previous drug convictions, he was spared prison by Judge Guy Whitburn who decided the jails were full enough already.

And the sentence was far harsher than the 12 month supervision order handed out to a drunken yob, with previous convictions, who almost sparked disaster on the East Coast Mainline when he threw an industrial wheelie bin and a bench onto the tracks before struggling violently with police.

And then, of course, there is Premiership footballer El Hadj Diouff, who didn't even bother turning up to the court where he was fined £500 for spitting in the face of 11-year-old fan, his second such offence.

But what really concerns me about Rachael's case is the fact that Judge Richard Lowden, possibly aware of a crowded Press bench, decided to overegg the pudding by calling for her removal from the Scout Movement because she "did not portray the right example".

Now I wasn't in court, and perhaps there are material facts that weren't reported, but what I do know is that Rachael had no previous convictions and rather than simply moan about the youth of today - as many do - she had spent years trying to help them.

In my view Judge Lowden isn't setting the right example either, because the courts are not just about punishment, they are also about rehabilitation.

Rachael deserved to be punished and she was, severely. But why then urge the removal of the one thing that could best help get her life back on track, what better way to serve her community service than with the Scouts?

Sadly, the Scout Movement has gone along with Judge Lowden's call and booted her out. Instead of showing compassion to someone who has been an asset in the past, they have kicked her when she is down.

It's not too late to re-consider and I hope the Movement does. Surely there is some way in which Rachael could continue her work with the Scouts.

As for Judge Lowden, I hope he reflects on his performance and the fact that the judiciary frequently make mistakes but are allowed to continue with their work.

His comments were unnecessary and ill-considered. I intend to track him in the future and hold him to account using the same benchmark of perfection with which he has judged Rachael Phillips.