So, Betty Childs (Letters, June 26) doesn’t think convicted teacher Jeremy Forrest deserves the severity of sentence handed down to him by a Crown court judge.

When you contextualise this statement with previous cases involving loss of life, she has a point.

Tony Magdi was killed in a road-rage attack, for which the culprit received 18 months. Equally, my very good friend Anthony Evans was killed in 2001, and the culprit received three years.

However, in this case, we need to be dispassionate and objective as to the nature of the relationship between both parties.

One (the culprit) was a 30-year-old teacher, the other a 15-year-old pupil. The laws on the age of consent, in regards to sexual acts, are clear and well-defined.

As a teacher, Mr Forrest would have known this piece of legislation, and the outcome should he breach his position of trust.

The consequences of his actions have to be treated seriously.

The severity of the sentence reflects public opinion, and it sends out a stern message to anyone who transgresses this law.

To lower the age of sexual consent from 16 to 15 could have dire consequences. In certain cultures, the marrying of child brides to older men is totally acceptable and, in some cases, encouraged.

Many young girls are maimed for life by sexual activity from their older husbands. Add this to the growing number of girls dying in childbirth and the picture is bleak.

These cultures now exist in this country and, in my opinion, the current legislation is vital in preventing young girls becoming enslaved to older men.

These girls are vulnerable teenagers and need protecting.

In finishing, if these two people were so “loved up”, why didn’t they wait until the girl was 16 and therefore at the age of consent?

K Lloyd, Norway Street, Portslade

I was surprised with the lack of letters following your excellent reporting of the recent case involving Jeremy Forrest.

I gather from my daily reading of your paper that at the start of the episode the press were able to mention her name until the authorities caught up with the couple.

The female was then given anonymity under law and Mr Forrest was subsequently jailed.

I applaud Betty Childs’ letter (The Argus, June 26) and agree wholeheartedly with her opinion on the subject.

Ken Chambers, Whippingham Road, Brighton

I was surprised to read anyone supporting the behaviour of Jeremy Forrest – this was not a teenage romance; it was a married teacher abusing his position with a girl who had a crush on her teacher.

This man knew what he was doing was wrong. He deserves the five-and-a-half-year sentence. I just wish he would serve the whole term and not the half usually expected, with time off for “good behaviour”.

The strain on this girl will stay with her for life. Everyone living nearby knows who she is and what happened. I hope she gets her family’s support. If she was my child I would move away.

As far as the age of consent is concerned, I would like to see it raised not lowered.

You have to be 17 to drive a car and 18 to vote: are these two things more important and do they require more maturity than deciding with whom we wish to share our bodies?

Anne Rose, Valencia Road, Worthing