REGARDING the recent discussions about prisons in the Evening Press, it is my belief that prisons should be harsher than they are now.

A prison sentence should be a punishment, not retribution. Having been inside HM Forces jails (as prisoner escort only), they used to be a great deterrent to crime.

The bed in the cell was a solid timber block secured to the wall and floor.

The pillow was an angled block of timber at one end. Every prisoner had a sheet and in the winter months a blanket.

The toilet facilities were a bucket which had to be cleaned and polished every day.

Very few re-offended. The words "parole" and "time off for good behaviour" did not exist.

Any bad behaviour was rewarded with an extension of the sentence.

To many modern criminals, a few months in jail is an occupational hazard.

The drugs problem could be eradicated if the American system of glass panels and telephones between prisoners and visitors was brought into being.

I also believe there is no such thing as petty crime.

A crime is disobeying the laws of the land, whether it be mass murder, speeding in a car or stealing an apple.

John Rogers,

Northfield,

Barlby,

Selby.

Updated: 10:14 Saturday, April 22, 2006