A Church of Ireland clergyman has said those responsible for last week’s armed robbery of a post office in Co Donegal should be flogged with a stick and made do hard labour.In a letter to the Donegal News, Canon David Crooks described the masked men armed with baseball bats who robbed St Johnston Post Office last Thursday as “vermin”.
Canon Crooks said the time has come to end the “softly, softly” approach to dealing with criminals, suggesting, among others, corporal punishment by stick.
Those who terrorised the young woman behind the counter in the post office were nothing but “violent thugs” who needed to be taught a lesson.
“As a public figure in this community, I feel it my duty to speak out about this incident,” he wrote.
“The judiciary and the gardaí need to be given the teeth to fight these vermin and deal with them effectively. They need to be dealt with appropriately. They should be imprisoned indefinitely, at least until it can be proved that they pose no further threat to any law-abiding community. They should be given the birch and made to do hard labour. Now, I know that all sorts of well-intentioned people will say that this is old fashioned and harsh. However, these lunatics will stop at nothing themselves in their criminal activities. This is a war, and it must be fought.”