Time to get real in the fight against crime

IF your headline “McDowell admits gang crime poses threat to State” (Irish Examiner, January 25) is to be taken seriously (and it should be), then every agency of the State needs a wake-up call.

Recently a three-year sentence was imposed on a would-be assassin arrested in Limerick in possession of a loaded pistol (one round up the breech — ready to go) and fitted with silencer.

The ridiculously lenient sentence apparently was partly due to the non-availability of Halal food in our prisons. Utter nonsense, surely.

What next? Suspended sentences for African cocaine traffickers due to the hardship of serving a sentence in our cold, damp climate? Again lately we saw a criminal found in possession of two shotguns and a large quantity of drugs, for which the law required a mandatory 10-year sentence, walk free with a suspended sentence. Every day, gardaí in Limerick, Dublin and elsewhere put their lives on the line arresting such major criminals only to see their best efforts frustrated by a legal system out of touch with reality.

Then, the final proof that we live in a legal mad-house — a junior minister writes sneaky letters to the same Justice Minister requesting the release separately of a murderer and a paedophile — a kick in the teeth to the victims of such crimes and their families.

Time to get real, minister.

John F Murray

Garrylucas

Kinsale

Co Cork