OUR society becomes increasingly bizarre. You published a thumbnail picture of Ryan Giggs, a role model for children on the eve of a major European fixture (LET, November 20) and in the same issue a far larger shot of Peter Howieson duly celebrating being the first burglar dim enough to be apprehended by two feisty, but hardly-threatening, female school cleaners.

Personally, I question giving Mr Howieson his Warholesque 15 minutes of fame, even if the joke was on him.

What is beyond a joke once again is the sentence handed down by our judiciary -- 12 months of hard probation with the provision that he attend a course that will compel him to face up to his errant ways, confront his thieving tendencies, and become a reconstituted member of Lancashire society.

Now, I'm not a reactionary. I don't support hanging and flogging. But I do know when my best interests are continually being usurped by my national legal system.

Can anybody tell me why Mr Howieson was not sentenced to a couple of years in Strangeways? While there he could have enjoyed lengthy, but leisurely rehabilitation, which, I accept, is an integral part of any sentence.

What it would ensure however is that my home, my friends' and neighbours' homes and local businesses would have greater security in the event of this man falling back into crime.

It has long been suggested that law and justice in Britain are no longer compatible. Should anybody doubt this please cut out this story and look at it before you go to bed at night.

NEIL YATES, Wharf Street, Rishton.