Madam, - I always believed that the integrity of a society's sentencing and penal policy rested on three interlinked principles: deterrence, reform, and retribution.
Kevin Myers (An Irishman's Diary, November 27th) highlights the fact that the third of these principles is increasingly disregarded in sentencing, particularly of young offenders. Anyone advocating any sort of retribution is presented as vindictive and a member of the "hang 'em, flog 'em brigade".
However, there are times when society needs to show its outrage at particular offences, and this is one. - Yours, etc.,
BRENDAN McMAHON, Elmwood, Naas, Co Kildare.