WE don't want to unduly alarm people with today's Streets of Fear headline.

After all, statistically Swindon remains relatively safe as long as we all take sensible precautions.

But the fact is that in the past few days there has been an alarming rise in the amount of violence used by people clearly after a quick buck.

The suggestion is that people desperate for money are willing to resort to ever more extreme measures.

Mosfiqur Rahman was returning home after a hard night's work when he was attacked outside his own home. Another man was attacked over the weekend for his wallet.

One suspects that drugs lie behind these crimes, together with the need for addicts to find the means to feed their habit.

Clearly the courts have a responsibility to punish the people who carry out these crimes.

But there remains the underlying fact that if heroin addiction was eradicated from Swindon overnight then much of the town's petty crime would disappear as well.

Yes we need punishment. But we also need to offer the means for the perpetrators to tackle the addiction that so motivates them.