Excessive punishment
Sir: 'Akin to grave-robbers,' thunders the prosecutor. 'Failing in my duty . . . public feeling . . . custodial sentence . . . ,' intones the stipendiary magistrate as he bangs up two middle-aged, souvenir-hunting Slovak women for 28 days (a sentence later replaced by a heavy fine). Since their heinous crime was the liberation of a cou- ple of cards and teddy bears from the mountains of tributes to the late Princess Diana one may be forgiven for wondering if this is London or Pyongyang.
Legitimate grief should not give way to near-hysteria nor reasoned judgment to public opinion. Such manifestly cruel and excessive punishment is a blot on our right- ly envied judicial system and does nothing to exalt the memory of a deeply loved, com- passionate person.
John Steed
PO Box CH3, Chisipite, Harare, Zimbabwe
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