Your editorial (Justice being done, December 10) fails to recognise certain realities. The recent figures quite clearly demonstrate the problems surrounding community disposals, which in many instances are not a success and result in additional crime and an increase in the number of victims of crime. Again, there is a failure to recognise that the reason why the re-offending rate is higher for those sentenced to custody is that these particular individuals are much more hardened, whereas those given Community Service Orders should be at the lower end of the scale of criminality and the comparison of these figures is just a little simplistic.

Your editorial suggests that 83% of prisoners serve sentences of six months or less, which is true, but these are not the sentences which were imposed by the court. It is possible, and indeed is now quite frequently the case, that an offender jailed for two years will spend only six months in custody under the early-release policies now in operation, and I doubt if the public would be relaxed at the prospect of someone who would normally be jailed for two years being given a community sentence.

Of course, there is a place for Community Service Orders and I have long been a proponent of the system which exists in New York City, where not only are the sentences swift, tough and visible - a quite sensible requirement from Kenny MacAskill - but they are also vigorously enforced, with breaches simply not tolerated. The message soon gets round that if you do not do your community service you will go to prison and then have to do it when you get out and a much greater respect is shown to the court and the concept of community punishments. In New York City, minor crime has been cut by 48%, with the consequent reduction in short sentences, and this is the way forward.

The mantra that prison fails and community disposals are the answer is simply not washing with the public. If, however, the public could be convinced that community service would be tough and meaningful, that view might change. The one principle, however, that must never be forgotten is that the protection of the public is the principal consideration in sentencing.

Bill Aitken MSP, Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh.