Sir, - Fintan O'Toole (Opinion, August 6th) is scathing in his criticism of the response of the Minister of Justice to the latest figures on armed robberies. He seems to think the Minister is over-reacting or somehow trying to make political capital out of them.
I am ordinarily in agreement with many of Mr O'Toole's opinions, but on this occasion his attempt to trivialise a serious crime makes me very angry.
He describes a robbery in a convenience store thus: "She looks up and sees this big fella in a balaclava. He has a knife to the throat of the poor young one who serves behind the counter. The owner of the shop is roaring. The robber is roaring back. It's like something out of a film." Which film, Fintan? Is it The Keystone Cops or Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid? But it all ends in failure for the unfortunate robber, who makes his escape without any loot, having smashed the shop till and other fittings in his frustration.
As someone who has had this experience on a number of occasions, and always at the wrong end of a gun, I can assure Mr O'Toole that neither I nor my staff found it in the least bit amusing. It takes some time to recover from the experience.
Perhaps Mr O'Toole will have in the future the dubious pleasure of meeting this gentleman in a bank or late-night store when he has become more proficient at his "trade". It is my hope that if Fintan falls down during the experience it will be from uncontrollable laughter. - Yours, etc.,
Brendan Horisk, Olde Forge Manor, Upper Malone Road, Belfast.