SIR – Hardly a week goes by when you have little choice but to populate your newspaper front page with individuals who commit crime, and appear quite content to add a degree of violence totally out of context with the meagre haul they may escape with.

I have listened to the various opinions after the death of Ronnie Biggs – am I wrong to conclude, even within criminal activity, some still had a degree of humanity as compared to the vicious element of today?

What the Train Robbers did was wrong, but with a £40 million cash value today, I can understand the temptation was overwhelming.

The biggest error was overlooking the fact the robbery hit right at the heart of the British Government and the culprits would never be allowed to escape and ultimately made an example of with 30-year custodial sentences.

Biggs readily admitted he was no ‘master criminal’, purely a ‘chancer’ who simply could not resist a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

In dealing with the criminality of this modern era, I think I have a good idea which era the late Jack Slipper would have worked if given a choice – firmly back in 1963. At least then there seemed scope for decency, even among thieves.

John Murphy, Cooper Lane, Bradford