ON television, radio and in the press we see and hear of the deeds of criminals: a hooligan vandal who tossed a brick from a motorway bridge resulting in the death of a lorry driver; a carer who cared so much she stole £5,000 from a disabled wheelchair bound young man she was supposed to be looking after; a secretary who defrauded her bosses of £4.6 million; schoolchildren who at 2am have been making teachers lives hell by vandalising their gardens and property; young vandals in Highworth making a misery of people's lives.

It goes on and on. A fact of life today and the guilty must look upon this country as a criminals' paradise. Look at the penalties: for the death of a lorry driver six years of which only part will be served; stealing £5,000 from an invalid payment of £1,500 compensation and 60 hours community service.

Discipline has disappeared from the home and society in general. Parents should be made more responsible. I am of 1920s vintage and in those days it was spare the rod and spoil the child and children should be seen and not heard but thanks to the do-gooders, youngsters are growing up increasingly with no respect for the law or their elders.

I knew the meaning of discipline. I was not bullied or beaten into it but it was instilled in the schools and in the home and on my 18th birthday my calling up papers for the Army arrived on my doormat so it continued, unbroken, into young adulthood.

An Evening Advertiser editorial commenting on the young Highworth vandals quoted the old chestnut boredom as an excuse. The state of society will not change until the law gets tough, the penalty fits the crime and the sentence is both seen and felt to hurt. No one, but no one should ever benefit or profit from crime.

IVAN E RICKWOOD

Eldene