WHILE perpetrators tend to be young men and women, violence is not confined to a single age group. It is a disease that must be eradicated, if that is possible.

We hear reports that for the most serious of crimes, the courts will often consider the merits of community service, rather than custodial sentences, and often bail is granted, only for those freed to commit further crimes.

I have written in HAS before about Britain's violent culture and the need for sentences to reflect the severity of the crime, with particular consideration given to the victim.

Human rights and the right to be defended within a fair and just system should be afforded everyone, but those of victims must be protected at all costs.

I would never advocate retribution even though the feeling among some law-abiding citizens over the law's inadequacy to protect them provokes such action.

What we need is for the law to be adequate, robust and unrelenting in dealing with those who deserve realistic punishment for the suffering they cause their victims.

Bernie Walsh, Coxhoe, Durham.