I AM one of the many out here in the real world who believe in the death penalty for certain heinous crimes, which would include the abduction, sexual abuse and murder of children.

I would even be happy to appease the cowardly amongst us and settle for lethal injection in place of hanging.

MEP Robert Goodwill had the courage of his convictions in voicing his support for the death penalty (August 24). While we have MPs who shy away from actually standing for anything, we will do nothing to prevent wrongdoers doing as they wish with impunity, while the rest of us find our lives curtailed in various ways to accommodate them.

I was not surprised to read in the same article the typically lily-livered statement from the York Socialist Alliance spokesperson opposing the campaign by asking how many innocent people would have been hanged. If we set about providing proper protection for our children and society as a whole by insisting on an obligatory DNA register for all citizens, that same old chestnut could not be trotted out each time.

No doubt, I misquote here but, "all that evil needs to flourish is for good men to do nothing" springs to mind. Let's continue to do nothing then shall we, apart of course from saying "this must not happen again".

Jill Burnett,

Windmill Rise,

York.

...NO, no, no, a thousand times no ('Bring back hanging', August 23).

There is no restitution that can be made if the wrong person is hanged. Can anyone who wants this look the relatives of Timothy Evans or Derek Bentley (both innocent of the crimes they were accused of) in the face? I doubt it.

There have been many miscarriages of justice in recent years. Just stop and think of all the innocent people who would have gone to the gallows if hanging were still here.

We must never give in to the baying vigilantes who pedal this evil (remember a paediatrician being attacked as a paedophile?)

But, there is a lot of truth in the assertion that our justice system favours the criminal not the victim.

So lets make prison somewhere no one wants to go. I have no problems with making criminals serve their sentences fully and in Spartan conditions or sentences such as hard labour.

Life must mean life, violent and sex offenders locked up for much longer in real hardship, that's fine.

An excellent book to read if you can get hold of it would be Albert Pierrpoint's memoirs. Mr Pierrepoint was the public hangman for many years and credited with somewhere around 750 executions. He went to his deathbed a confirmed abolitionist.

Finally, spare a thought for all the officials involved in the procedure; being around so much death is bound to effect them; and how will they be able to cope if they know they've hanged an innocent?

Hanging is no more than legalised state murder and must never come back.

Graham Horne,

Beech Avenue,

Bishopthorpe,

York.

...I WOULD certainly bring back the noose for killers of children, but our "justice system" is never likely to do this. Also, the human rights brigade and European Courts of Justice would ensure that any sentence so passed could never be carried out.

An acceptable alternative may be that those who murder innocents should be put in the same cell until the day they die, with no recourse to appeals, parole or any shortening of their sentence by even a day.

They should be kept clean and fed in the most Spartan accommodation, with human contact of the barest minimum, little exercise, no entertainment or training, or anything that could make life worthwhile.

I would sentence them to a miserable existence without hope, pleasure or companionship. With any luck, their life would be one of boredom and frustration, with plenty of time to think and regret, and their death a welcome release.

To give murderers the sort of treatment they receive at present, all mod cons, the ever-present hope of freedom, prompt medical treatment and pleasures they do not deserve makes a mockery of the punishment they should expect.

Heather Causnett

Escrick Park Gardens,

Escrick, York.

...I WAS shocked to see such an overwhelming vote for the return of the death penalty in the Evening Press poll, although I do not believe the result is a true representation of the view of the country as a whole.

For a start, it would be exceedingly unlikely that the death penalty would be brought back because it would contravene the European Human Rights Act, which allows the right to life.

The death penalty is also final, and does not take account of miscarriages of justice. If I were on a jury, I would not want the death of an innocent person to be on my conscience.

Some criminals have done horrific, evil deeds. They deserve to be sent to jail for long periods or indefinitely; but does it not bring us down to their level to be guilty of murdering them?

Andrew Collingwood,

Turners Croft,

Heslington, York.

Updated: 10:57 Wednesday, August 28, 2002