THERE is no doubt that 1996 will be remembered as a year of chilling horror where little children, who should have been in complete safety at school, were injured and killed.

First there was the bloodbath among youngters at the primary school in the Scottish city of Dunblane. Now a maniac with a machete has run amok in a school near Wolverhampton, injuring three children and four adults.

Only a few minutes before the attack occurred, the inquiry into the Dunblane massacre was told that a similar incident was likely to be repeated unless decisive action is taken.

No parent willingly would want armed patrols in primary schools. But if security patrols made up of men and women who know how to handle trouble have to be a feature of every school, then we must accept it. The alternative of leaving things as they are and risking more death and injury among tiny innocents is too terrible to contemplate.

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