The police need more of our protection - your views

"If the police must protect the public, we should when we can protect the police”
Smirking Lees leaves court after dodging custodySmirking Lees leaves court after dodging custody
Smirking Lees leaves court after dodging custody

The police need more of our protection

A student drove into a police officer and dragged him along a busy Edinburgh Street. He then jumped out of his car and escaped. But this was recorded on CCTV and he was arrested after kicking another police officer on the head (News, March 2).

The accused, Elliot Lees, offered through his lawyer that he wished to preserve his employment prospects in financial services.

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Doubtless in recognition of this aspiration, Sheriff Adrian Cottam did not impose a custodial sentence. It was community service, a barely enforceable request that he donate £400 to a police charity, and loss of his licence for a year!

The incident happened within a week of a very similar event when the constable involved was killed. Doubtless the Scottish government has not provided sufficient prison space. Doubtless the Sheriff has great faith in the innate goodness of those who appear before him.

This comes at a time when the governments of UK have decided that the police are to be treated as ordinary members of the public as regards the vaccine, but of course, they cannot work from home.

I suggest that if the police must protect the public, we should, when we can, protect the police. At least we should show what side we are on!

N Hugh Mackay, Blacket Place, Edinburgh.

Jodi case deserves a public inquiry

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I sincerely hope there will be a public enquiry about the murder of Jodi Jones following the excellent Channel 5 programme Murder in a Small Town.

Sometimes I despair about the law in this country - if Luke admitted murder, he would get parole. However, because he persists that he is innocent, he is denied the chance of freedom. He has already served 17 years which is a longer sentence than many murderers get.

Sylvia Wilson, Maxwell Street, Edinburgh.

How do passengers vanish at airports?

I find it surprising that there are still 38 people left to trace on a flight from London to Aberdeen who may have the Brazilian variant of coronavirus.

So many checks and double security checks are made, even when taking a domestic flight including passports, I thought tracing passengers would be a simple task.

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Does this mean that airline companies do not know the identity of their passengers?

Dennis Forbes Grattan, Bucksburn, Aberdeen.

Factory farming is making us sick

It has been 20 years since our TV screens showed animal carcasses burning on pyres, in a desperate effort to combat the spread of foot and mouth disease.

Six million farmed animals were killed. In the 1990s, the outbreak of BSE resulted in 4.4 million cows being killed. The human variant (vCJD) is thought to be responsible for the deaths of 178 people.

Those terrible scenes seem like a distant memory, but it is important to ask if anything has changed.

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Little attention is being paid to the current outbreak of avian flu, which has been discovered (to date) at 20 locations in the UK. As a result, almost 250,000 birds have died of the disease or been ‘actively culled'.

It is thought that three-quarters of emerging infectious diseases come from animals, and this highlights a disturbing pattern which needs to be addressed in order to alleviate further suffering and disease.

Fiona Pereira, Animal Aid, Bradford Street, Tonbridge.

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