Ours is not a civilised country

DOES it surprise any of your readers to learn that the car thief convicted of causing the deaths of two gardaí by deliberately ramming their patrol car in Stillorgan in Dublin last year had 42 previous convictions?

What kind of country has Ireland become that a mere 18-year-old can have a criminal career of the kind that reached such an appalling climax?

In a civilised society this menace would have been jailed years ago to shield that society from his vicious thuggery. If Ireland was indeed a civilised country, those two unfortunate men would probably be alive today.