More jail time is in order for the civil servant who stole almost $160,000 in public funds after appeals court judges voiced their frustration on ?alternatives to incarceration?.

Clayton Busby, 57, pleaded guilty in March to ten counts of fraud, including one count of stealing $159,493.37 from the Government Employee Health Insurance (GEHI) fund over the span of more than a year.

At the time he was sentenced to a three month jail sentence with a further 21 month jail sentence suspended for three years. Protesting the ?manifest inadequacy? of that sentence, however, Crown counsel Juan Wolffe and Graveney Bannister brought the matter to Appeals Court yesterday.

The three Appeals Court judges agreed, bumping Busby?s sentence up to 12 months imprisonment.

The judges voiced frustration with the interpretation of the 2001 amendments to the Criminal Code which allow for the alternatives to incarceration (ATI) scheme, saying lawyers use the amendments to argue against incarceration ?again and again? and ?ad nauseam?. However, all three noted, the ATI scheme does not take away the option of incarceration ? it merely codifies guidelines which were already in place.

Mr. Wolffe agreed. ?All of a sudden incarceration has become an absolute last resort,? he said. ?It (the Criminal Code) is not saying that... But that seems to be the interpretation given.

?I accept you have to look at the personal circumstances but they have to be balanced with the rights and interests of society.?

President of the Court of Appeals Edward Zacca agreed. ? (The amendments) are not a license for non-incarceration.?

When deciding on the original sentence, Assistant Justice Philip Storr cited Busby?s ?exceptional circumstances? in choosing to hand down a suspended sentence. However, the three Appeals Court judges agreed, there were no such ?exceptional circumstances? in Busby?s case. His original sentence was removed and the sentence of 12 months on each of the ten counts, to be served concurrently, handed down in its place.

Busby, an employee in the Accountant General?s office in charge of processing civil servants? insurance claims, admitted to making false claims in the name of his uncle and his sister.

He wrote more than 80 cheques to the tune of $159,000 over the span of 15 months from 2002-2003. None of the money has been recovered to date. Accounts from co-workers and superiors showed Busby was a good worker who had shown remorse for what he did.