ZERO TOLERANCE, MANX STYLE

Madam, - To stop joy-riding and petty crime, why not bring back the birch?

Madam, - To stop joy-riding and petty crime, why not bring back the birch?

This was in use in the Isle of Man some years ago. At the time I remember talking to a police officer there. I asked him if the birch was proving effective. He thought for a moment and then said; "Let me put it this way, I never saw the same backside twice". - Yours, etc.,

J.C. SCARGILL, Gosworth Park, Dalkey, Co Dublin.