Ugh! Twisted girls! How could someone do that to their best friend?! There's no excuse for it whether they're high or whatever! That is just SICK! I actually almost puked!

I agree with the person below me, there's no justice in hanging the teenagers. That would be stooping down to almost their level.

Skilla, London, England

"And you all think there is no justification for bringing back hanging as a death penalty" so hanging someone for a crime makes everything right? It doesn't bring back the dead, and only serves to lower society to level of the criminal. Hanging is not about justice it's about revenge.

No I'm not some do gooder. I don't believe evil people should have a nice time of it in jail either. I do belive that these people should be given seriously hard labour to do and their existance be as hard as possible with no luxuries like TV's or whatever else is doled out to them in prison these days. They should get a bare cell to sleep in and worked hard 18 hours a day doing the really bad jobs that no one would really want to do.

At least with this option if you do find later that the wrong guy is convicted you can do something about it.

Brian Azazel, Nottingham,

hah, some of you are tying to suggest that organized religion cuts down on murders? Obviously you haven't been watching world events of either the past or the present. Religion gives people ideological immunity to morality, sort of like the detachment drugs can bring. People who bomp abortion clinics, kill gays, and behead hostages, and bombed the wordl trade center, had plenty of organized religion. Not to mention the Crusades. No need to complicate matters: everyone has the capability of committing murder and drugs, including alcohol, help to remove inhibitions. Yes, perhaps in a few cases some people's religious upbringing may help restrict them, but then again you can find priest murderers, etc. too.

jigsaw, east lansing, MI, USA

Death penalty should be mandatory for these girls; or is that too cruel for animals?

Jesse, Kansas City,

"And you all think there is no justification for bringing back hanging as a death penalty". Evil is in the mind of the person so it does not matter if they are are fun-loving kids - remember the Bulger Murder in the UK, just fun-loving kids did that. Everyone, from an early age must understand Right from Wrong and the consiquences of doing Wrong. They wanted to know what it was like so what better way than to show them the effects first hand.

A Father, Cardiff, Wales

the more we push God out of our lives, the more we let Satan in!

Joe, Henderson, USA

This is not all there is... there is an eternity outside of our world, a life lived forever in or out of God's presence... which makes our departure from this stage pale into insignificance, and makes our actions in this short life stand tall as a universal monument forever witnessing to who we are, who we chose to be... while we could not see God.
To the two girls who did it, I say, be set FREE - in Jesus' Name. One day you will want to be forgiven. You may, while you are still here. Now choose life!
Eliza, I remit your sins in Jesus' Name, may God take you and keep you safe. See you there!
It's not long now.

Anthony Rose, Kingston, London, England

Re: John Corry,

Horrific events like these don't have anything to do with the decreased following of organised religion or secularisation of society. Society doesn't get its morals from religion, our ideas of what is right and wrong come from a popular zeitgeist; there is a general consensus of what is moralistic and this changes over time regardless of religious permeation. I don't need religion to tell we what is right and wrong, and neither does our society - and I feel really sorry and sympathetic for anyone that feels so insecure about their own moral compass that they need to subscribe to a false doctrine and depend on religion to tell them about morals.

It's interesting how religious people always cite these sorts of stories as evidence about how our society is supposedly becoming morally deficient, and yet conveniently avoid mentioning the bloody tensions between Catholics and Protestants in NI, the murders of doctors who perform abortions, homophobia, terrorism...

Latch, Cambridge, UK

One hopes; the system would not be so foolish as to release them during their lifetimes... hope springs eternal, wistfully said.

D. Sampson, Mt. Vernon, USA

Chilling. And yet the system still does not get it; even "kids" can commit cold blooded murder, and they still treat them like children.
Publish their names! No parole in 15 years, or any years. Keep them locked up, or put them down for the good of society. These two cannot be rehabilitated....would you want them over to your house in 20 years from now?

Mike Hermsen, Omaha, Nebraska/U.S.A.

John, are you trying to say that religious people don't commit horrendous acts? You only have to look at the causes of most pain and suffering throughout history to see that will be a difficult argument to win. I am an atheist and it certainly doesn't make me more likely to hurt another human or animal.

I am never sure why people can show such a lack of empathy but I think it is more complex than blaming it on 'goth' culture as this article has.

Paul, London,

Sounds Like Spritual Affliction.....John Corry is right on in his observation, I see the same.

KC, Middletown, NY USA

John Corry says "Isn't it interesting how people refuse to draw a connection between horrific events like this, and the decreased following of organised religion".

This event was truly horrific but is literally infinitely negligible compared with the eternal hell that the Pope preaches about. There, for finite sin, the damned will be tormented for an infinite time. The universe may end but the torment goes on. If the the decrease in organised religion stops the gullible being terrified by such obscene concepts it will be a good thing.

william garrett, Harrow,

How would naming these girls help Sandra from Spain?

Would it make sense of the senselessness? Would it assist int he grieving families, those of the victim and those of the girls who committed this heinous crime?

Or would it help you somehow in satisfying some perverse vicariousness?

Isn't it enough that all these people grieve, that the small town of Collie (where all the girls were well known) deal with this tragedy?

Bert Hetebry, Perth , Western Australia

I'm beginning to think that these kids are not sick, they are void of all feeling, life means nothing to these types, they value nothing except 'material" things.

I believe most parents aren't teaching their children social skills, such as don't hurt someone's feelings, be polite, etc. When is the last time you saw someone blush, or feel shame?

It seems a lot of parents pop out a kid and expect them to raise themselves, or they want the schools to teach them every aspect of life.

Bobc, USA, USA

Surely the father of the murdered girl would have nothing to lose by publicising the names of the murderers. No court could conceivably prosecute him for doing so without bringing down public wrath on the legal process. That people who are no longer in any way truly children should be able to hide their identities behind a legal scren of this sort tends to make an ass of our legal system.

john purser, Candelo, NSW, Australia

This story is a few weeks old.I read it in Aus .press and the 2 were named there.They were on mind bending drugs it seems and it sounded like a "cool" idea. so they plotted and planned it. And went ahead and did it. And still seem to think it was "cool" being indifferent in court as sentence came down.

M McGregor, Tunbridge Wells, Kent

Isn't it interesting how people refuse to draw a connection between horrific events like this, and the decreased following of organised religion and the rise of political correctness and "respecting" other people's wishes to do and get away with whatever they like? It is sad and delusional to believe there is not a direct connection there.

John Corry, London, UK

In the best interest of humanity, they should be removed from the human gene pool. Nothing good can come out of their existence.

Rosihan Hadi, Kuala Lumpur,

What IS all this nonsense about not being able to name these monsters? Old enough to do the crime, old enough to be publicly named for it too. They should be kept locked up for the rest of their natural lives. At that age they were and admitted being old enough to know it was wrong, they just did it because they felt like it. Well, if i had my way, they'd be executed so they couldn't possibly do it again.

sandra, Alicante, spain

These girls probably have mental sickness, and should be delt with accordingly. Take the case of the serial killer Emil Kemper III, who killed his grandparents one day as a child because he 'wondered what it would be like to do so'. Once he was free from confinement he embarked on a hitch-hiker killing spree, keeping women's heads in the boot of his car. Blatantly nuts.

nicko, sydney,

There are no grounds for releasing them ever. This behaviour was clearly pre-meditated and they are a threat to even those they consider friends. Evil presents itself in strange forms and unexpectedly....but they are not really paying the price, they still have life.

ToMTom, Leeds, England

Something truly seems to be wrong with the two girls who killed their best friend. Well, if best friend were the case then why commit murder? I don’t make sense at all unless the two of them suffered from a severe psychological illness. Which they probably did, to lack empathy is as it seems in my opinion inhuman and therefore they certainly did.

Louise, Stockholm,

and they seemed like such nice young girls ......they were always smiling and cheerful. just normal, fun-loving kids. just didn't like sundays, i guess.

robert furlong, prescott, arizona