Judge backs flogging

A senior judge yesterday called for the return of corporal punishment as he sentenced three teenage joyriders from Romford, Essex. Judge Owen Stable QC called for the rattan cane to be used as a "deterrent"

The judge made his attack at Snaresbrok Crown Court, east London, after hearing how Daniel Gilder, 18, drove a stolen car, with two friends, at up to 100mph in a 30-minute chase which ended on a grass bank by the M1 in Hertfordshire.

The judge sentenced Gilder to 24 months in a Young Offenders' Institution, and Peter Harris, 18, and Matthew Ross, 17, to 12 months.