“Dangerous” phone-tapper jailed for four months

Here in the UK, over the course of the past two days, we have been hearing tales of paedophiles and kiddie-porn collectors not receiving jail sentences because of a recent decision by Home Secretary John Reid (see here, here, and here).

Reid has told British judges that the prisons are full to bursting, and so only dangerous criminals should be given jail sentences. This has led, as mentioned above, to the aformentioned "perverts" basically being set free.

And yet there seems to be room in prison for the News of the World's royal editor, who has been given a four-month sentence for hacking into the voicemail messages of royal aides. A private investigator found guilty of the same crime for the same newspaper has received a six-month spell at her majesty's pleasure (see here).

So, the question raised is: Are these two men a greater risk to society at large than one man with a history of sexual abuse on children and one man who downloads kiddie-porn pictures?