DARRELL Lambert is a menace to society. Even his solicitor accepts that, telling magistrates that the 20-year-old has “an overwhelming desire to commit crime and steal cars.

DARRELL Lambert is a menace to society. Even his solicitor accepts that, telling magistrates that the 20-year-old has “an overwhelming desire to commit crime and steal cars.”

But when he is released from Norwich prison later this year he will be allowed to return to his home in the Gainsborough area of Ipswich - and police are already preparing for an increase in car crime when that happens.

Despite this, magistrates decided against imposing an order which would ban this irresponsible young father from his home town, although he was given an ASBO requiring him to behave himself.

In truth the police and probation services cannot have any confidence that Lambert will stay out of trouble - he has bragged about how well he copes with prison life.

And people living in the Gainsborough area will be very disappointed to hear that they will not be spared his activities once he emerges from prison.

To protect the area, a banning order would have been a useful weapon in the police armoury.

However realistically it is doubtful whether the existence of such an order would have kept Lambert away from his home estate, just as it is doubtful how much attention he will pay to the ASBO that was placed on him.

Lambert is the kind of repeat offender that shows no remorse, no sign of reforming himself, and is quite simply a menace to society.

Extra weapons would undoubtedly have helped the police deal with him once he is released from prison - but in reality the only real hope for him and his neighbours is that eventually he does grow up and realise that the main victim of his self-destructive lifestyle is Darrell Lambert himself.

EAST Anglia's main rail line to Liverpool Street station in London is very congested with hundreds of passenger trains every day.

Freight trains from Felixstowe and Harwich almost all complete their journeys in Scotland, the north of England, or the midlands.

There is an under-used cross-country route from Suffolk to Peterborough and Nuneaton which could be used by heavy freight trains if it was upgraded.

So why do the rail authorities insist on sending these freight trains down the congested line to the capital, around the equally congested north London line, and on to the busy lines out of London to the north?

The freight policy for trains from East Anglia's ports seems totally daft.

It is time Network Rail got on with the job of upgrading the cross-country line, transferring all the freight on to this route and creating more space for passenger trains on the commuter route to London.

ORGAN transplants save lives, and Emily Gentry's inspirational story shows exactly how important an operation can be.

In a generation heart transplants have gone from being amazing and newsworthy operations to almost being routine procedures.

A transplant can allow someone like Emily to resume a full life when earlier her prospects would have been very bleak.

Her inspirational story shows everyone just how vital it is to carry the card - and to let your loved ones know if you want your organs donated in the event of a tragedy.