FROM reading the regular columns in The Press on cases heard at York and Selby Magistrate's courts, it is apparent that wrongdoers convicted of quite severe offences are now being handed out suspended prison sentences.

It is also noted that police were instructed not to jail offenders over the festive season unless it was absolutely necessary (Don't lock them up, The Press, January 4).

Added to this, we can probably assume that people charged with serious crimes, who would normally be remanded in custody until the trial date, are now being released on bail. If this is true, then a dangerous precedent is being set.

We all know the reason is the lack of space in our jails, and this shortage now appears to extend to local police lock-ups.

Building additional prisons sufficient to adequately detain the projected number of inmates is the obvious answer, but how long is this going to take? Several years, I should think.

A short-term solution needs to be found, and found very quickly.

It may be worth considering approaching the French authorities with a view to leasing the old penal settlement on Devil's Island in French Guiana.

The place could be renovated and modernised to a standard where it could house at least several hundred of the country's worst offenders. It gets them out of this society and is surely better than reintroducing capital punishment.

J H Roy, Hadrian Avenue, York.