[Shaun]

Originally Posted by Tom

Nah, once a criminal always a criminal.

If they realised something was genuinely that bad then they wouldn't have done it in the first place. A criminal's only regret is being caught. Not the crime.

That's ridiculous.

On a personal level - some time last year I technically committed a crime that pretty much ruined a friendship of mine [i don't know if you know the details, but for it's public knowledge, I believe I posted it in a blog of mine] - for me the regret is definitely not the being-caught aspect. Every time I think of what I did, I cringe. You learn and move on.

Of course that's not always the case, as some criminals don't feel remorse, but neither is the opposite always the case.