"BURGLAR'S three year prison sentence" (Evening News, August 6). Has a note of sentencing reality arrived in this area?

Judge David Mathews said "the suggestion that heroin addiction was at the root of the offence is no excuse." And "burglary causes much distress, the effects can last for years!" Could local "defence" at last be persuaded that drugs are no longer valid excuse in law for anti-social types who pollute our society? They cause so much distress by invading our homes, our privacy and, looting our property.

Maybe the example of mandatory 14-year (no parole) prison sentences for burglary would also help cure many drug addicts of their addiction and thieving habits.

F L JONES, Malvern.