Justice can often be a long and tortuous process, taking months and sometimes years for the process to move from the original offence through to the eventual conviction and sentencing of any offender.

It is therefore refreshing to see the courts fast track Christopher Cunningham through the system after he held up his hands for the theft of four CCTV cameras.

Not that he had much choice after his every action was recorded on the cameras he was stealing and subsequently seen by thousands of people in Bradford on the Telegraph & Argus website.

It took less than a day for the police to arrest Cunningham after his picture was published on the front of the T&A being caught in the act of taking the cameras.

And less than 24 hours after that, magistrates were handing him a community order sentence. It may be that the public humiliation of his appearance in the T&A and on the website is a greater punishment than the actual sentence.

We make no apologies for that.

Our swift publication of his picture after the offence undoubtedly helped in identifying him quickly and his subsequent arrest.

His crimes may not be high on the scale of offences, but they are symptomatic of the petty thefts that are blighting too many of our households and businesses.

Those who have been victims of thefts of this type will welcome the swift and speedy justice dealt out here.

And perpetrators of crime should beware that being caught in the act on camera could lead to a very speedy passage through the judicial system and very public humiliation in front of your friends and family.