Laois councillor calls for criminals to be stripped and whipped in public

A Laois Fine Gael councillor wants corporal punishment brought back with stripping and whipping dealt out to the culprits of crime.

John Bonham made the remarks following Monday night's kidnapping and armed robbery of a 50-year-old woman in Cullohill.

He said public humiliation for criminals was the only option.

Shirley Bergin was left badly shaken but unharmed after four men with Dublin accents armed with crowbars forced her to leave her home and take them to her place of work, a Topaz filling station.

Councillor Bonham told Midlands 103 he would be interested to hear what "Joe and Mary citizen" thought of his proposal.

"I think Joe and Mary citizen are entitled to do their day's work...without the fear of tiger-kidnappings."