The law applies to the general case not the particular. Laws are made for society as a whole not the individual. However, sentences cann apply to an individual. So in this case,the individual was held in prison for the remainder of his life.
Since mankind is imperfect mistakes can be made. An inoncent person imprisoned wrongly can be released and there is the opportunity for them to carry on with their lives. An executed person cannot be resurected Lazarus-like.
With these simple truths in mind the EU bans capital punishment. It is difficult to know which of these truths Americans find hard to grasp - mistakes are made or that resurrections do not happen.
Once again we find America has nothing to teach we Europeans.

Eddie Reader, birmingham, england

Sid, even my immature three year old knows what is right and wrong. A mind of a minor KNOWS what is right and what is wrong. I guess you don't mind to keep people like him with your tax money so that he can continue to live a relatively good life. I wonder if you know what is right and what is wrong.

Amy, Cebu, Philippines

I wonder if one of our most senior judges Lord Phillips is aware of this case. Anyone who saw the reports of his lecture to the Howard League for Penal Reform will be aware that he was complaining about whether it made sense to spend £1 million plus of public money incarcerating a person for 30 years. Lord Phillips of course didn't spell out what he thought would be the alternative to this but we can guess it wouldn't be the death penalty. In 40 years Britain has gone from executing killers to giving them supposed 'life' sentences of 25 years to a new system where 'life' is pretty much meaningless and can be less than 10 years. What next? Community Rehabilitation Orders and a fine for murder? Maybe bind people over to keep the peace and give them a stiff talking to - far cheaper and it avoids centre left do-gooders getting upset.

John , Manchester, UK

waste of money keeping him alive, i am glad he is dead, just wish he had hung for it

Dave, Barrow, UK

John Straffen has said he wished he had been hung rather than spend over 50 years in prison.
Having met him and talked to him, I know he meant that. he was someone failed by a system that did not recognise or deal with his disability and it had terrible consequences.

May he at last rest in peace and be allowed that by the media. He will not be forgotten by those people who visited him, wrote to him and supported his lonely life over the decades, nor by the prison staff who helped him learn to read and write and have his stamp collecting hobby, and also by the kindness of the otehr inmates to him.

Anna, West Midlands , UK

Does anyone really care whether this subhuman creature was fit to stand trial 55 years ago? I don't buy this mind-of-a-9-year-old conjecture: he had the bodily strength of an adult. We should all now be relieved that he and his lawyers will no longer be wasting any more of the state's money.

Gordon Alexander, Frome, Somerset

Wow.

i hear prision is horrible.

Imagine, Free clothes, free food, TV

All paid for by us, tax payers, for 55 years.

there has to be a better way..

i feel the most for the poor parents.

Jail can't give them the justice they surely need..

Phil, Winchester, Hampshire

He should have been executed for his crime. Spending 55 worthless, pointless years rotting in prison to me is less humane than a simple lethal injection. It could have saved the life of at least one little girl who may have gone on to contribute to society rather than being a burden on it - and would have saved the British taxpayer £millions.

Oxford Don, Oxford, UK

This multiple child murderer may have had the mental age of a 10 year old, but let us not view him as a naughty child in an adults body who knew no different. From a maturity and educational viewpoint he may have been graded as a child of 10 but his actions were those of an evil killer who ended three young lives and destroyed those of their families. The little girls and those close to them are the victims and not Straffen. It is unfortunate that he was not hanged as his third victim would probably have her own grandchildren by now. Perhaps those who rush to his defence would see things differently if they were the parents of one of the victims.

Kevin, London, England

Steve Jones,

Our country hasn't had any more attacks since Pres. Bush prudently spoke to Islamic terrorists in the only language that they understand.

Your kind of crack may garner praise from ignorant Gen Yers looking for social approbation from their hippie profs & uninformed peers, but the majority of this wonderful country isn't interested in your childish, secular-progressive agenda.

I suspect that more people in Europe than you care to admit realize that all your attitude bought the UK & Spain was the Tube & train bombings. Even the French figured it out. Why can't you?

Anne, Washington, DC

Since the advent of DNA testing several hundred convicted individuals have been proven innocent. While one can argue all day long about this one case one cannot make an argument for capital punishment in general. Fact is innocent people have, in all probability, been excuted. What do you tell their family? That they were executed for the greater good? When the justice system is perfect then we can consider capital punishment.

Larry Horton, New Braunfels/Texas, USA

If the Americans commenting on here read a little more widely, they might know that even in the USA you are not executed within six months of being charged. So a death sentence won't prevent further homicides being committed by people who escape after a short time such as this man.

Moreover, the death sentence is not a good deterrent:: the USA has the highest murder rate in the world. It is approxminately four times the rate of England and Wales. (per head of population, of course). Source: International comparisons
of criminal justice statistics 2000 by Gordon Barclay & Cynthia Tavares

My view is that secure units should be secure and that crimes are committed that make it necessary to lock some people up for a very long time for the safety of society.

Michael Pritchett, LONDON, LONDN

Better he should have hung. Those responsible for his escape should have served jail time.

Susan, Peterborough, UK.

The deterrent isn't in someone worrying that they may get a death sentence, but rather in preventing them from ever doing it again. Had he been executed one little girl would have lived. Whether you support a death penalty or not, that simple fact can't be denied without bending logic to something completely unrecognizable.

Lou, Marberry, Ohio, USA

So, all you would-be executioners, if the killer had actually been ten years old on conviction, rather than just having a ten year old mind, would you have put the noose over his head? Strapped him to the electric chair?

I am glad the vast majority of my fellow countrymen have a less gung-ho approach to executing sick children and adults.

S Griffin, Brighton, UK

Ceasar, your country voted for Bush, what does that say for the intelligence of your society?

Steve Jones, Manchester, UK

The death penalty would have saved the life of the third child. And perhaps it would have saved the life of the first two as well.

Camille, Chicago, IL

The fact that he escaped and killed another little girl while in a mental health facility just supports the fact that people who kill should get the death penalty. Why take the chance that a killer will escape and kill again? It's not worth the risk. This man should have hanged for his crimes. It is not a matter of his mental intelligence. Even a ten year old knows that it is wrong to kill. This man was evil.

Sandra, Wisconsin, USA,

What a complete waste of tax payers money keeping this worthless animal locked up, whats more, an even bigger waste allowing lawyers to launch a legal aid funded appeal that he shouldnt have stood trial in the first place! You have to ask yourself who really is mad?

Iain Chapman, Marciac, France

if someone is ill enough, mad enough, or twisted enough to kill small girls, do you think they're thinking "well goodness, I'd better not because I might get 50 years in prison"?! the whole deterrent idea is ridiculous in this kind of case.
(Having said that, obviously I'm glad the man wasn't out somewhere free to hurt other children. In this particular case I don't see what else you could do but lock him up, he was a very dangerous man)

Sarah, York, North Yorkshire

He may not have been fit to go on trial but the outcome should have been the same, imprisoned for life with no chance of parole! As David, Hemel Hempstead has said not exactly deterring others but in this case the means justified the end. He was off the streets for all of his life!

JJ, Auckland, NZ

Sid, how about you take the next killer with an immature mind into your home so you can look after him. The intelligence of a society is judged by the stupidity of its citizens.

Ceasar, Nashville, USA

55 years in prison; no fear of loosing your job, no mortgage to pay, no food bills, free healthcare and no tax to pay. What a price we pay for freedom.

Daniel Pilcher, Sittingbourne, England

Yea sure he was a danger to the public but punishing him did no good because he in his strange immature mind had done nothing wrong. He was not ill, he was not evil, he just had the age of a minor, society should not gloat over punishing him instead he should have been looked after while being kept away from harming again. The quality of a society is reflected by the quality of its mercy

sid grover, derby,

i have a 9 month old daughter, did he get what he deserved, i certainly hope so

nigel blackwell, toronto,

And just exactly how long would someone get for precisely the same offence now? Less than a decade behind bars probably.

Terrific deterrent, not.

David, Hemel Hempstead, England