A. Richards and R Billings. He served his ludicrous short sentence for killing someone. Does that word register in your minds? Killing, the taking of a life, the ending of the life of someone for no reason. Do you comprehend the finality of his actions for his victim?
He's served 12 years. His victim is DEAD!! He should die in prison. Until we bring back punishment that fits the crime killing will become a more popular form of weekend entertainment for the average yob. Why? Because they get off lightly. The life of another person is valued at 12 years or less by the state. You may think his debt is paid but I do not. As a foreigner he should be deported, whether or noy he has 'paid his debt to society'. The reason people demand deportation is so that our society does not want to take the chance he will repeat his odious offence here. Justice is not something English courts have dealt out for many years now. Have a chat with yourselves and don't be so bloody woolly-minded!

David Thijm, Stourbridge, UK

The only puzzling thing for me is why he ,and others, who are convicted of murder are not inprisoned for life. Surely it would have a great impact on people who commit these crimes if they knew that the sentence would condem them for the rest of their natural life

arthur parry, Carnforth, England

Once upon a time I believed in "redemption, in the progress of the heart". My heart has progressed. I now wish justice for the victim and his family and revenge on the perpetrator.

jill, yobsville, uk

Personally I think he should either be kept in prison for the rest of his life, or the death penalty should be reintroduced with retrospective effect. However much I may regret it we do not do things that way. But what I hope does not happen is that he is correctly considered fit for release but that this does not happen because it does not suit, as if!

D.L. Stephens, York, England

Yours is a dumb argument. You are right that murder stands alone, different and terrible - as such is should be met by a different and terrible punishment. Life to mean life. As a society we should say, if you take one of us - we will take you. Killing is wrong and I abhor capital punishment but for the life of me I cannot understand why any murderer should ever be freed from jail.

If justice dictates that we release this murderer it is infantile to express the wish that in a redemptive act, he should forgoe his rights to live here, he is after all to all intents and purposes British. It would be more redemtive for him - and just as infantile for us to wish that - to forgoe his early release and decide to stay in prison for his crime.

Kieran, London, UK

Rebecca Billings has completely missed the point describing this heinous crime committed by Learco Chindamo as "nasty and stupid". To so woefully reveal her prejudice is to undermine some of the more reasonable points that she tried to make. For who wants to consider the thoughts of one so thoughtless and able to trivialise such barbarity?Twelve years is not a commensurate time to serve for the callous ending of another's life.
Ms Purves seems to have been in a hurry ;this argument is not as measured and balanced as her usual efforts. It is difficult to see how his rehabilitation would be helped by his deposition in a country where he doesn't speak the language, just for one.And yet I do feel the hurt Mrs Lawrence must be feeling that she cannot be rid of him. Would that we could just banish all killers and other vile criminals but that is passing the buck. To effect redemption in these cases means the presence of the criminal after he has been punished,at the bare minimum!

susan galea, zebbug, malta

Yes, Rebecca, we all know how good the probation system here is, don't we.

I wonder, if someone killed your child or one of your parents, you would dismiss this as "nasty and stupid"?

The Chinese would know how this thug should be dealt with.

Allan, Cowling,

Chindamos father known as the ACID MAN due to his use of acid killing a girlfriend, stated he remained in contact with his murderous son and is proud of him ? that is even after he was sentenced to prison for this murder.
Far from early release he should serve the full term then be deported and no arguing about it.
I feel so sorry for the deceased mans family who even now have been kept out of the loop regarding all this.

KW, wirral, UK

Deporting Chindamo will not do anything to diminish knife-crime. Only the restoration of a patrolling police force will cancel out the insecurity on our streets, to which young people respond by carrying knives.

Edmund Burke, Kingston upon Thames, England

I agree with all you say. I have been very shocked by the ruling that Chindamo is allowed to stay in this country. I am beginning to think we are all going mad in this country and not caring enough for innocent people but baging on and on about Human Rights. The concept of having rights it completely bound up with responsibility . YOu forfeit any rights if you kill somone in cold blood.

Elizabeth Wilson, Twickenham, England, Middlesex

With regard to the Purves column on the position of the convicted murderer of Philip Lawrence, Learco Chindamo, Ms Purves is inconsistent. She says she believes in redemption but obviously doesn't. The article is loaded with bias as if this person had done the killing yesterday and was 26 not 16.

She omits the fact that he had no father around. He was in jail for murder in Europe, not a great role model. Everything he did was wrong and he was probably full of bravado and it is hard to see how he can any sort of life anywhere.
Truly there is no easy answer to this situation, but Purves wants to pass the problem on to Italy. How does she think he would survive in Italy, branded a killer; no home, no support system of any kind. He would be forced into crime out of necessity.
I am sure that everyone in the UK loathes the crime committed by Chindamo, but passing the problem on to Italy is not the answer. The Alice Miles article was much more considered.

Philip Griffin, Castleton, North Yorks

I could take your point if he was a more recent arrival. But exactly why is Britain a "foreign land" to somebody of 28 who came here aged 6? And what do you imagine would happen if he was sent to Italy? I don't know about the Italian probation system, but I bet he wouldn't be as closely watched as he would here, by people who knew his background. Integrating into outside society and finding employment would be much harder, and much more likely to lead him into petty crime. He's spent 12 years in prison; that seems about right, to me, for somebody who did something nasty and stupid when he was 15. As for his statements, they are probably filtered through lawyers, and he may not be terribly articulate. As for Mrs Lawrence, he's not exactly going to be living next door, is he?

Rebecca Billings, Richmond, UK

Yes, Libby, yes. Blaming 'society' - for some, 'society' is only mentioned when a scapegoat is needed - simply allows the perpetrators of appalling acts to forgive themselves - after all, it wasn't their fault - without ever tackling head on the enormity of what they have done and the consequences of that deed on other lives: in other words to be truly sorry and determined to change. Instead, the next step is to demand one's 'rights', often another term of convenience for those who neither recognise the rights of others nor their own responsibilities towards them. For us to wallow collectively in guilt is a cop out. While we indulge in pointless handwringing, the Chindamos of this world see themselves as victims who've been badly let down and deserve our understanding and help. Meanwhile, the benighted Lawrence family and all other such families fade away as the mere background tor our compassion for killers and bringers of mayhem - so utterly , utterly misguided.

anne, bournemouth,

That only really works if you believe murderers are born bad. That is certainly a valid view, but perhaps one destined to never decrease the murder rate. Of course individual responsibility should be emphasised, but so should collective responsibility, and at a time when we are facing a problem with youth crime, to say that it is simply a matter of them deciding to lead a good life doesn't solve the problems.

Either way, this isn't about punishment. If he is released from prison, he is deemed to have served his debt to society. So why, other than the fact he is foreign, should we require more? Either let him out or not, but the idea that we require more from foreigners (especially those who have lived here since a small child) in their redemption is not justice at all.

A Richards, London,

Who isn't ''suggesting he should be killed or locked up for ever''?

Gwilym Rhys-Jones, costa del sol, spain

Excellent article which neatly exposes the flaws in Alice Miles piece. Like Alice Miles, I believe absolutely in the rule of law. However, that does mean I have to support bad law - the unthinking incorporation of the Human Rights Act into UK law must go down in history of one of the most crass and unecessary own goals ever scored by a UK Government. So the HRA must be repealed to make space for some straight forward common sense.

Richard Marriott, Worcester, England

Yesterday's smug and "holier-than-thou" column (with similar comments from various readers) from Alice Miles almost had me forsaking The Times for good. This excellent piece by Libby Purves has restored the balance somewhat.

John Tomlinson, Brentwood, UK