“But as we have just heard from Mrs Arkin, her son was caught, and he has been punished.  We also have a justice system that ensures people are punished appropriately.  Why do you think we need to change the current system?”

“I think it needs to change because the word punishment is being used without anyone properly interpreting the definition.  Punishment means any change in a human's surroundings that occurs after a given behaviour or response which reduces the likelihood of that behaviour occurring again in the future.  This means that to punish someone is to make them think twice about doing it again.  As you can see from the list of convictions on the website, none of the criminals I am holding have had any kind of sentence that made them think twice.

“Let’s take Stuart Boyle, for instance.  After killing my son, he spent less than eight months in custody.  If that was meant to teach him a lesson, it failed badly, because he has been convicted of car theft three times since his release.”

“But surely killing him is a bit extreme. We don’t even have the death penalty for murder.”

“Well, that is what this week is all about.  Is it too extreme, or has he shown that his only purpose in life is to cause misery to others?  If his only contribution to our society is going to be stealing other people’s hard-earned possessions, should we have to put up with that?  Anyway, I am not the one to decide if he lives or dies; it is the choice of the people.  If the people think he should be set free, he will be set free.  If they think he should die, he will die.”

“Mr Gray, it sounds like you are trying to deflect the blame away from yourself and on to the people of this country, but the fact remains that it will be you that pulls the trigger, as it were.”

“I am not trying to shift the blame, Charlene.  If I kill any of these boys, then I will be guilty of murder, plain and simple.”

“What do you say to suggestions that anyone who votes for the boys to die is an accessory to that murder?”

“I heard the suggestion that voting for a boy to die makes you an accessory to murder, and I think it is ludicrous, something thought up by the government to dissuade people from voting.  If twenty million people vote for Simon Arkin to die, what is the government going to do to them?  Imprison them all?  Fine them all?  Every single case would have to go to court and that would cripple the judicial system that everyone suddenly seems to cherish.”

“What is your suggestion for dealing with repeat offenders, Mr Gray?  Do you think they should all be killed?”