SIR – The cases of Paul Flowers and Irfan Faiz, the airline pilot who thought he was safe to fly after consuming three-quarters of a litre of whisky, highlight the way society fails to treat issues of addiction.

While I can’t say too much about the Flowers case, which is mostly sub judice, Mr Fiaz obviously should have been well aware that he was not safe to fly.

Is banging up addicts the best way to treat people? I have visited addicts in prison and I find it extremely unlikely that anyone gets off drink or drugs in jail. Indeed, I have known prisoners who became addicts in prison. Treatment facilities in Bradford are much improved since I produced a critical report on them when I was chairman of Bradford Community Health Council. Would not the legal system better serve society by ‘sentencing’ addicted offenders to treatment rather than jail?

As anyone who has worked their way to a clean and sober life will tell you, this is not an easy option. But it would work. Prison probably won’t.

Karl Dallas, Church Green, Bradford