IN reply to E Bell (Opinion, June 6) and Centaur (June 7), the return of capital punishment would mean acceptance that we would hang an innocent at some stage no matter how certain we were that we had got it right.

We were certain about Evans, based on evidence given by Christie in court, although it was Christie who was the guilty party.

Bentley was hanged although he was under arrest and restraint when Craig shot and killed a policeman.

Had one of the rape victims died, we would have hanged Stefan Kisco, the man convicted of several child rapes but later found incapable of rape.

We can never be sure we can always get it right because we are fallible.

Hanging was never a deterrent because people kill more often than not while acting under fear, stress, temper, anger, self-defence, revenge, mental instability or temporary insanity.

If we say it is wrong to kill, how can we say, ‘Now we are going to kill you’? It’s indefensible.

We would kill coldly, not in self-defence but for revenge.

We will always get it wrong down the line at some point and we can never then put it right.

We should not allow killers to turn us into killers, otherwise they have justified their actions and dragged us down the same path they trod.

Is that really what we want?

Mr D Pratt, Accrington.