A COUPLE whose teenage son was beaten senseless with a fence post as he walked home late at night have written an open letter to the Prime Minister, MPs, council leaders, the police and magistrates, calling for justice.

Mrs Lyn Dawe and her husband Jerry - both 41 - say in their letter: "We are writing to you as the parents of a young man brutally beaten during the early hours of April 6 - for no other reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"The purpose of this letter is to appeal to those of you who may have some influence regarding law and order in this country and to earnestly ask you to give your support to the police in their efforts to bring the perpetrators of these sort of crimes to justice and to encourage the courts to hand out heavy fines and sentences to those involved.

"We fear this may not happen in our case for a variety of reasons, including the fear that is rife in the community, preventing those who have valuable information coming forward, and the reluctance of the courts to bring the full force of their power to bear when dealing with these thugs and their families - who for the most part are well aware of their youngsters' behaviour."

Mr and Mrs Dawe, who live in South Ham in Basingstoke, describe how their 19-year-old son Ben and his girlfriend were attacked in an alleyway by a gang of around 20 young people aged between 14 and 20 who had offered to sell them drugs. They say their son could well have been killed if a brave householder had not come out of her house causing the gang to run off.

Their letter continues: "As a family we have suffered a huge amount of distress and anguish at seeing our son suffer. Don't get us wrong. We are nothing special, just a very ordinary family. But we are a family with seven children - none of whom has a police record - a family who all work and/or attend school or college regularly.

"We are also a family who believe in certain rights which include the following: - We have the right to expect parents to take responsibility for their children and their behaviour. - We have the right to walk around our community in relative safety. - We have the right not to share the street with those who commit offence upon offence and continue to walk free. - We have the right to expect those who commit offences to be given appropriate punishment for the crimes they commit.

Mr and Mrs Dawe state: "Let's stop wasting police time and resources by giving these mindless scum 'slaps on the wrist' and let's mobilise the communities in which we live so that these individuals no longer have the power to intimidate.

"We don't want political point scoring. We want real, tangible proof that these types of problems are being dealt with now.

"We're the sort of people who vote, support the police and who support one another within our communities - the ordinary people of this country. Now it's your turn to support us!"