26/06/04

The judge, Mr Justice Clarke, took great care to say that this case must be regarded as a tragedy and that she was not a danger to the public at large.

It was not in the public interest to extend her current tariff of 12 years for more than three years, at which time she could apply for parole.

Mention was made that Maxine suffered from a personality disorder and post-natal depression. She had been in an abusive relationship and all these factors could have led to a defence of diminished responsibility. Her mother's influence was mentioned but those who know her regard that as a sad misjudgement.

Local papers, like TV programmes, are widely discussed in the community and in prisons. We need to remember that changes are being made in the North's prisons for women because of the appalling rise in self-harm and suicide.

If the outside world appears cruel and vindictive then these rates can only rise. Hopefully, we shall soon look back on this era of high profile trials of young mothers as unacceptable. - Name and address supplied.

EUROPE

THE British people are not anti-Europe. We have traded for thousands of years without the dubious assistance of the EU.

Tony Blair states there are technocratic advantages associated with being an EU member - ie the politicians would be controlled by engineers and scientists.

In engineering we are dismayed by the fact that the EU has decimated our manufacturing industries. Shipbuilding, steel mining, and agriculture are all victims. The fishing industry has been robbed blind.

Imagine tomorrow we were not in the EU. Bogus asylum seekers would be returned to the safety of France, saving millions of pounds and taking the pressure off our small island.

Traditional industries would regenerate, assisted by the £25m per day paid to the corrupt and wasteful EU.

Work would not be exported to the East European members of the EU, ensuring the safeguarding of our pensions.

We are a world trader and are quite capable of prospering without the shackles of the EU. At the moment we have the most successful economy in Europe.

We are responsible to future generations to ensure that work is available and that manufacturing is protected.

The EU was supposed to be a free trade area, but has evolved into a political circus.

The time has come when the interests of the nation transcend loyalty to political parties. We do not need the EU but do need to trade with Europe and the rest of the world. - B Gobin, Spennymoor

YOUR correspondent Mr Whittaker is fulsome in his praise for the EU.

He says: "There can be no doubt that there has been gain and little loss in the UK relationship with the European Union."

A small matter of a net contribution of three or four billion pounds cannot be wished away so lightly.

I notice that he does not highlight the fact that any money received via Brussels is simply a return in part of what we have paid over in the first place.

He completely ignored the list of waste and corruption which you published from me on June 4, because those things are facts which the Euro enthusiasts prefer to bury.

I shall be interested to see if he can refute (not deny) any of them. - C Christie, Helmsley.

YVONNE Benn (HAS, Jun 21) states that the EU is not a betrayal of the freedom won by our servicemen of 60 years ago. I would suggest that it is.

I would agree that the existing organisation in Brussels is much better than war, but does she believe that our forces ever envisaged their futures being controlled by peoples of Europe, many of whom contributed very little to their own freedom? - Gordon E Moffat, Newcastle.

LAW AND ORDER

WAS it Charles Dickens who coined the phrase, the law is an ass, in one of his novels? He must have been psychic and looking into the 21st century.

We have thieves who would steal the pennies off a dead man's eyes and when taken to court are given a slap on the wrist. We have yobs running around in cars with no insurance, tax or MOT and when caught are fined £100, a fraction of what law-abiding citizens pay to put their cars on the road.

When rapists are jailed the sentence is a joke, then we have terrorists trying to blow us all to kingdom come and what does the law do? It fines a 70-year-old pensioner £100 plus £35 costs for putting two fingers up at a speed camera.

This is probably a week's pension for that man.

I remember Winston Churchill getting praise for doing the same. I think old Charlie got it right, the law is an ass. - A McKinnon, Crook.

BRIGHOUSE & RASTRICK BAND

I REFER to your article (Echo, Jun 22) concerning Saturday night's concert at the Gala Theatre. It implies that the audience would not have been there at all unless they had been assured beforehand that the Floral Dance would be played.

In fact the majority of people, myself included, attended the event hoping to hear a great band perform great music - with or without the Floral Dance.

When the conductor realised that contemporary music was not what the audience wished to hear he changed the last item to something more toe-tapping (his words).

It was obvious from the reaction that more of that type of music would have made the evening much more enjoyable for everyone. - Marjorie Nicholson, Stanley, Crook.

AYCLIFFE ANGELS

WORKING at Aycliffe munitions factory during the war, we were often entertained in the canteen during our meal break with artists from ENSA.

Members of the government would visit and speak, and our service lads to tell of the victories and their fight against the evils of war.

CSM Stanley Hollis VC once came. I remember him, a modest man, speaking of the heroism and sacrifice of his fellow men on the battlefield more than his own courageous valour.

I wondered if facing a canteen full of women was more daunting for him than facing the enemy.

We were always thanked for the vital war work we were doing and made to feel we were with our brave lads in the front line.

Many thanks and congratulations to The Northern Echo and its reporters for the excellent coverage of the D-Day campaign, memories and events of Sunday, June 6. Hope it will never be forgotten.

In the past we, the Aycliffe Angels, have reason to be grateful to this paper. You gave us front page coverage and a campaign to show the country and the younger generation the dangerous and vital war work we did.

Tony Blair became involved and since then we are privileged to join the British Legion on Remembrance Sunday.

Once again, thank you. - I Davey, Darlington.