Letter: Bulger verdict must stand

Sir: My gut reaction to the prospect of a challenge to the trial of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson is one of extreme distaste. Murder is a crime that has no basis in reason, the victim suffers his or her fate at the hands of a pitiless judge with no recourse to appeal or compassion.

On the intellectual plane, however, it is only too easy to see that our system of justice, prone as it is to the whims of vote-seeking politicians, rather than the cool heads of the judiciary, is in some need of overhauling to ensure that justice, once done, is done.

It is this dichotomy in my thinking that makes the Bulger case so unusual in its horror for me. There is a need for compassion for the perpetrators in almost equal measure as for the victim. Others, like me, I suspect, are yet unable to find that compassion, so strong is their sympathy for the victim and his family.

Yours faithfully,

NIGEL BROWN

Clacton-on-Sea,

Essex

23 May