CONGRATULATIONS to the Evening Press on a crassly insensitive bit of double standard reporting worthy of Private Eye's "Street of Shame" column.

In the week when a teacher has been released from jail, but still found guilty of firing an air rifle at a group of youths, you rightly bring to attention the dangers posed by imitation guns (May 5).

On the same page there is also an article about "Air rifles terror on nature reserve". The reporter quotes a source as saying: "the pellet could have taken someone's eye out or caused some other, equally horrible, tragedy".

Why then did you feature the comedian Harry Hill in the Quote Of The Day saying: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but in my experience so does an air rifle in the top bedroom window"?

Very funny, I don't think.

Peter Taylor,

Hobgate,

Acomb,

York.

Updated: 11:19 Monday, May 09, 2005