Take a rich criminal for such a punishment (1,5,3)
I believe the answer is:
a thick ear
'such a punishment' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'take a rich criminal' is the wordplay.
'criminal' is an anagram indicator.
'take'+'a'+'rich'='takearich'
'takearich' anagrammed gives 'A THICK EAR'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for a thick ear that I've seen before include "Punishment" , "Swift retribution" , "that makes for a good harvest?" , "Punishing blow" .)