An Eye For an Eye - Blind Britain?

So I was shocked the other day to read that the mother of a murder victim wants capital punishment reinstated. In case you haven't heard about this, look here: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/874313-mother-of-rebecca-aylward-calls-for-reinstatement-of-death-penalty

Now, of course it's tragic that this girl was killed, and I feel really sorry for her mother, but what will killing the killer achieve? Another wasted life, more mourners. He's done something very wrong, yes, but that doesn't mean all the people who love him will suddenly stop caring about him. If he died, that would just cause yet more people to suffer the way this woman clearly is.

I think this woman's statement is reactionary and emotional, not logical. She's in pain. But I have never been able to understand people who are for the death penalty. I mean, why should anyone have the right to decide who deserves to live and who doesn't? This boy made a mistake: he's a human being with friends and family, thoughts and feelings.

Killing because killing is wrong? What sense does that make? If a murderer had murdered another murderer, it would still be murder. So why should the state be allowed to murder people? What kind of sick, brutal message would that send to the public? In general, we need much more love and compassion in this world, and less hatred and violence.

This boy is not evil. No-one is all bad: no-one is born to be a criminal. Something must've gone wrong in his life to make him do that. There must be a deeper issue. People need to try and understand that.

I admit that our prison system could do with some reforming, but what we need is more compassion. We need to concentrate on rehabilitation, not just lock people up and then let them back out into the world with no way to cope. And we definitely shouldn't bring back the death penalty. I truly believe that as long as a person's alive, there is still a chance for them to become a good citizen, and we should never give up on them. What a waste to just kill off the people we decide have made too big a mistake.