I see that several people have written in recently regarding the comments by our local MP Julia Drown that "some intruders are young children who are misguided", but notice that she has still not given any advice to people as to what you should do if they are unfortunate to be the victim of such an offence.

Perhaps we should all keep a bag of sweets in the house, and if we catch the culprit sit them down with a cup of tea and offer them a sweet while we explain to them the error of their ways, perhaps we could keep some phone numbers handy of groups who will help them (solicitors and Legal Aid?) and let them use our phone before giving them the taxi fare home.

Most people in this country are fed up with the way the system operates, people like Tony Martin who was the victim of several break ins, and with no protection from the police, was left with no option but to protect himself, and most people feel the same way.

When you hear an intruder in the middle of the night you are not going to have time to evaluate the situation. It might be a young person or a very large drug crazed person, so instinct will take over and you will act without thinking, in the cold light of day it's easy to say you should have done this or that, but at the time you have a split second to make the decision that may even save your life.

Perhaps Julia would like to visit an elderly lady I know who was the victim of a break in and has had to leave her home of many years because she can't face the idea of living there again, I wonder if she will accept that they were misguided?

As for your letter writer who was caught for speeding, it is a lot easier to sit in a van and catch people who are five or six miles over the limit, than go out and catch the real bad drivers who we see on our roads every day, and it brings in a lot of money with out all the hassle there is in catching real criminals.

D Douglas

Toothill