I WAS disgusted to read Tony Tierney's report about a woman who has again tricked her way into the home of a 91-year-old lady in order to steal meagre sums of money (December 1).

The fact that this woman was stooping to what must be about the lowest crime ever, targeting vulnerable elderly people, surely leaves no doubt that the female of the species is at least as deadly as the male.

Why, then, is there all this fuss about the number of women being committed to prison?

Surely even the most dedicated feminist cannot find either logical or moral reasons why women should not suffer the same fate as their male counterparts if they are equally prepared to flout the law.

The fact that a woman is either pregnant or a mother of small children should not in any way affect the way she is sentenced. Only a woman herself can decide whether motherhood or pregnancy should stop her committing a crime.

The increase in women prisoners simply reflects the fact that women are equally as inclined to crime as men and are nowadays only too happy to offend, knowing that there will be a hue and cry about their sentence.

Women have campaigned long enough for equality, so why now are they so reluctant to suffer the same fate as men?

Heather Causnett,

Escrick Park Gardens,

Escrick, York.

Updated: 10:18 Wednesday, December 05, 2001