REGARDING the case of BT employee Parveen Hassan, jailed for phone calls fraud (LET, April 8), I have never written to a newspaper before, but felt compelled to write about this young woman.

While I do not condone her actions, reading other articles in the same issue - 'Heroin seller gets three years' and about a man who tried to steal £10,000 from an elderly relative getting probation and community service - made me wonder what can be achieved by locking up a 21-year-old girl who has worked since leaving school and is apparently a first-time offender.

It certainly doesn't show BT in any great light and our judicial system needs an overhaul!

KATHLEEN DUCKWORTH, Swan Farm Close, Lower Darwen, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.