AS a Japanese student nurse living in Swindon, I am often asked by patients I meet on the ward what I think of England.

I always say: England is a beautiful country and I do like living here (apart from food) but people seem to get away very easily when they commit crime here, even murder.

We still have hanging in my country, although it does not happen very often.

You even read about it in the national newspapers when someone is hanged, because it is only used in very extreme cases.

I read about one of them in a paper here a couple of years ago when this man, who belonged to an infamous cult group was hanged.

His crime was that he murdered a lawyer, his wife, and their one-year-old baby boy just because the father was helping his clients to get back their children who were held by this cult group.

The man who was hanged did confess his crime after the arrest and, more importantly, there was evidence to support the prosecution.

Also in Japan, many police officers do carry guns though not always.

I do remember seeing an officer with a gun around his waist, and this was in a very small country town.

Again, the use of it is so rare, if an officer actually had to fire it, you would have read it in a paper the next day!

It's not like the USA I must say.

I am not writing this to criticise this country and its ways, but reading about crimes and the short sentences makes me think about the different way my country handles its criminals.

M Minshull

Swindon