I READ with interest the comment made by Mr Adrian Lemaitre after he had chased off an intruder who was, to all intents and purposes, up to no good.

As much as I applaud and admire Mr Lemaitre's assertion that he "would have smacked him", had the would-be burglar gained access to the house in question, I'm afraid he would have fallen foul of the Human Rights mob, of which one of our elected MPs Julia Drown appears to be an ardent admirer and supporter.

The Human Rights Charter would be a good thing if it were administered fairly and honestly to one and all. Unfortunately it is biased towards the criminal, aided and abetted by the police, judiciary and the Labour government, thus giving credence to the belief of all law abiding citizens that 'crime does pay'.

The naivety emitted by Julia Drown is truly amazing! In her view as with those of the supposedly law upholding forces all criminals have the right not to be attacked by angry householders or any other citizen threatened by a thug, rapist, child molester, mugger, etc. Perhaps Madam Drown would care to put her brilliant mind to work and answer a simple question. What would she do if a violent thug had broken into her home and was a threatening violence towards any member of her family?

No doubt, she would reply, "that is a hypothetical question". Maybe so, but it is not to the unfortunates who have suffered appalling injuries at the hands of thugs and the like who have walked free or been given sentences that are totally out of keeping to the crime committed.

There can be no denying that a criminal is a law breaker, therefore any one who helps a lawbreaker escape punishment is, to my way of thinking, guilty of aiding and abetting a criminal. I wonder why some of our magistrates and chief justices are not behind bars!

Harold Burge

Swindon