REGARDING the Rev Ian Robertson's opposition to the death penalty (LET, June 12), his feelings of disgust for the witnesses to Timothy McVeigh's execution are only acceptable as his personal opinion, but he may have felt differently if one of his children had suffered a long, painful death, buried under tons of concrete caused by the McVeigh explosion.

This coward lit the fuse and walked away, knowing that there would be massive damage and loss of life -- 168 were killed, including 19 small children and hundreds badly injured.

I don't know the details of the murder that Mr Robertson's 'pen pal' in Alabama is in jail for, but if he had started a 'pen pal' relationship with some of the murder victims' relatives, he would probably get a totally different story.

Many of the prisoners in US jails are using the mail and the Internet to contact gullible people on the outside. There have been several instances of jailbreaks attributed to this and even women being 'conned' into marrying a convicted murderer on Death Row.

Some of our murders, and multiple murders, just like yours, are so heinous and vicious that a majority of US citizens and our politicians, believe that, in the worst cases, the death penalty is appropriate. Timothy McVeigh fell into that category.

I suspect that you have had murders in Britain that a lot of Britishers would have applied the death penalty to, if it was available.

Capital punishment is the law of the land over here. How would Mr Robertson like it if a group of Americans started a "Bring back the death penalty club" in England? He would rightly say, "It's none of their business" and this applies conversely.

Is there no convict in Dartmoor, serving a life sentence in a small, cold cell for some horrible murder he committed who would really appreciate a few letters? Or would the time be better spent being a 'pen pal' to some lonely person in an old folk's home?

KENNETH BROOKS, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA.