It's time that these crimes were recognised for their magnitude, and I firmly believe there should be a death penalty for repeat offenders when it comes to vehicle theft and burglary.

Looking at vehicle theft is straight forward. Stolen cars are usually driven in a highly dangerous manor, either for fun, getting away from police, or fleeing the scene of the crime they were stolen for.

I know of two local incidents where victims were driven at by thieves trying to escape - happy to kill anyone to get away. One gentleman was dragged about twenty feet beneath the car before being pulled under the back wheel - he survived but had serious injuries and subsequent infections from the tarmac embedded into his bones. This was for a car stereo worth about £20. The second was not so lucky, the father of two was knocked down, driven over and killed - for a laptop.

Burglary I feel even more strongly about. The law seems to look at burglary merely as trespassing and the theft of goods (goods that are insured) plus the sentimental value of a few items. Many burglars don't even receive a custodial sentence.

Let's take a look at the people killed because of burglars:

People confront a burglar and are killed immediately, or die later from injuries or illness that can be linked to the confrontation (especially with elderly victims).

People so upset by a burglary that illness and death follows, or people upset by loved ones being killed that they too fall ill and die.

Because of burglars many homes have locked doors and windows with keys not kept in the lock. As a direct result, many men, women and children are killed in house fires. The valuable seconds they have to escape are spent rooting through thick smoke for keys and keyholes (not an easy thing in such a situation).

Lives are being shattered every day by these disgusting maggots. It's time we dealt with them properly and kept them away from normal society.

Let's make it very clear and simple:

1st & 2nd court appearances - 6 years, so 3 would usually be served

3rd & 4th court appearances - 10 year sentence (of which 5 would usually be served)

5th offense - death. By now it's clearly a lost cause and so much upset and trauma related to these crimes has gone on. Why should we allow so few people to cause so much suffering?

How much of our life do we spend locking and unlocking doors and windows, activating and de-activating alarms, working to pay for these locks and alarms and immobilisers? It's a disgrace that any civilised society should have to put up with any of this. Lock them up, give them a couple of chances and when they have proven they are worthless and unredeemable, put them to sleep.