I refer to a letter published in your edition of 22 August by John Tierney from the Association of Animal Hunt Saboteurs.
Is there no level to which Mr Tierney will sink to promote his fundamentalist agenda? He shamefully uses the release of convicted rapist Larry Murphy as some kind of twisted argument against hunting "backed up" by unsubstantiated claims of a link between hunting and violent crimes against humans. There is no such scientific research establishing what Mr Tierney claims simply because no such link exists. A hunter is no more or no less likely to commit a crime than any other sector of society.
However, how does Mr Tierney think Larry Murphy's victim feels about him using her dreadful experience to further his own pathetic agenda? If he needs to resort to using unfortunate victims of violence to support his agenda to ban hunting, it says much about his moral compass.
Finally, may I remind Mr Tierney that only for the intervention of two hunters, Larry Murphy's victim would not have survived and Murphy might still be at large preying on women.
Desmond Crofton,
National Director,
National Association of Regional Game Councils