Although I strongly disagree with Richard Halfpenny's views on the death penalty, he has always presented an intelligent argument.

I was therefore very saddened to see him degenerate to the level he did in his last letter against me (Opinion, April 19).

Apart from being very bigoted, to refer to "trendy lefties", "do-gooders" and "Labour women" shows a complete lack of knowledge about what is happening in the world around him.

There are many reasons for the breakdown in law and order. However, from my experience as a police officer, I can tell Mr Halfpenny that the biggest single reason was the closure of the Borstals and approved schools.

Those institutions may not have done the offenders any good but at least once locked up they could not inflict their problems on the rest of society.

It was not the "do gooders" that caused those closures but central government's need to finance tax cuts.

As government research shows, more than 70 per cent of all crime is committed by juveniles.

-Stuart Bower, Hawkhurst Road, Brighton