LIKE the rest of the law-abiding citizens of York, I am disgusted with the breakdown of law and order in our city.

We have been assured by our MP time and again that he is there to represent the opinions of the people of York. Well, let him do so by telling his Prime Minister that the ordinary people on the street are sick of the way they are treated when it come to retribution against the criminals.

Our MP has told us several times that there is nothing happening that did not happen years go.

I challenge him to show me either newspaper archives or transcripts from the courts where, in a matter of weeks, we have had pensioners killed and another mugged twice in one day, bus drivers stabbed and a man scarred for life.

T J Ryder,

Priory Gardens,

North Lane,

Dringhouses, York.

...IN his 1971 film Clockwork Orange, Stanley Kubrick was prophetic in foreseeing the random and brutal violence now plaguing our cities.

That a 92-year-old woman should be robbed on the street, then have her house forcibly entered by an attacker who threw her to the ground, is morally unconscionable and, in my view, calls for new punishments befitting the crime.

Prison seems not to be a deterrent to these low-lifes and one must think that direct intervention such as the stocks and 100 lashes may well be a more persuasive and memorable object lesson, as well as reflecting people's fury.

The community's compassion and understanding are being abused by criminals who have forgotten what the word "consequence" means.

J Dylan Rivis,

St Paul Street,

Montpelier, Vermont, USA.

...YOUR recent items and subsequent letters in response to attacks by thugs on innocent citizens predictably call on the authorities in the form of the police and City of York Council to curb these acts of violence and bring the perpetrators to justice.

I am only surprised that some people haven't laid part of the blame for the anti-social behaviour on teachers with the accusation they are not instilling discipline into children.

As a York teacher I all too often have to deal with children, and their parents, who refuse to recognise it is their actions which have caused a problem. This mind-set is not just confined to schools.

How often have adults been allowed to throw their litter down in the street while shoppers look away? How often have pedestrians dodged for cover while adults cycle through the city's pedestrianised areas? How often have we read about role models landing in court for offences ranging from drunkenness to alleged rape?

Society has allowed a lowering of standards and eroded the rules of decent, thoughtful behaviour. It is up to society to reinforce those rules.

If children see adults behaving in a boorish manner with scant regard for the law, then they will believe that it is permissible for them to do the same.

Don't blame the police, the courts or the council for the failure to deal with the rising disregard of values; they can only react to situations. We all must look at our own behaviour and ask ourselves if it is acceptable.

Name and address supplied.

Updated: 10:33 Friday, November 07, 2003