REFERENCE to a call for capital punishment to be reinstated, the first abolition of capital punishment was by William the Conqueror in 1066.

For the next 40 years no criminal was hanged in England, but one suspects he had ulterior motives and other methods existed.

The second occasion the death penalty was abolished was in 1969, while I was a police officer in London.

However, since that era, crimes against the person have risen dramatically, due in no small measure to an increase in population, lack of discipline, explicit viewing programmes and easy access to firearms and other offensive weapons.

Recent events will inevitably lead to a call for a return of capital punishment, especially if the judiciary continue to award criminals lenient sentences.

Life imprisonment should mean life. There is no reprieve for the victims or their kin folk.

Kenneth Bowker, Vesper Walk, Huntington, York