Risks of taking law into your own hands

Hardly a week goes by without us reading about another case where someone has taken the law into their own hands only for it to end in tragedy.

The problem with vigilantes is that they lack the judgment, training and self-control which the real enforcers of the law must have.

This is why vigilante cases inevitably involve excessive behaviour, mob rule, violence and even death.

We now read about the case of Graham Caie, a former oil worker, who carried out a terrifying attack on a prostitute as part of a bizarre attempt to rid the streets of drugs.

His case is complicated by issues about his mental health, but the fact remains that prostitutes involved in such a hazardous occupation deserve the same support from the law as anyone else. They are easy targets as a number of recent notorious murder cases have proved.

Other cases have also shown quite graphically how people who take the law into their own hands, motivated by revenge, often end up committing a worse crime. It is not unusual for innocent victims to pay with their lives in cases of mistaken identity.

This is why the courts must continue to take a hard line in such cases to deter others from following suit.