THE widow of murdered Gary Newlove spoke for most of the nation yesterday when she gave a press conference at the conclusion of the trial into his killing.

She spoke movingly about the husband and father who has been torn away from his family by mindless violence.

Then she spoke about the killers, stereotypical young thugs who commit mindless violence through boredom and drink.

She condemned the slap on the wrist approach by the courts, one of which released one of Mr Newlove's killers on bail only hours before the murder.

She called for more high profile policing and more action against feral youths who hang around on the streets drinking.

She denounced bad parents who let their children turn into thugs without exercising the control that most parents take for granted.

And she denounced the government for not introducing tougher measures to cut down on youth crime.

We agree with every word she said and we suspect most of our readers do as well.

Young people are not born bad. They go off the rails because they're allowed to and they are not taught about right and wrong.

Punishment is a thing of the past and we are all reaping the 'benefit.' When they are sent into custody they meet fellow failures and come out to reoffend.

We see hundreds of potential thugs hanging around on our own street corners, shouting, swearing and drinking and we wonder why it's allowed.

As sad as it is to say this it is quite possible somebody reading this will go out tonight and get beaten up just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So what will happen now? Will the government introduce tougher measures such as boot camps and a return to conscription for convicted offenders?

Will the courts stop listening to mealy-mouthed lawyers who try to persuade them that vicious thugs are really little angels who have simply strayed off the straight and narrow?

Will curfews be imposed and gangs broken up by police? Will the parents of juvenile offenders be punished?

Your guess is as good as ours.

We repeat - young people are not born bad. But the authorities, from the government down, still has little idea how to stop them turning bad, nor how to deal with them when they do.