The poet Homer wrote: “To speak his thoughts is every free man’s right”. Mary Shephard (‘Equality of arms’, November 10) had every right to disagree with what I wrote in my letter (‘Hazards of the trade’, November 7) as it seems she did not understand the title of my letter and what I was writing about.

My letter was about the dangers that policemen and journalists could face in their work. In fact, 45 journalists worldwide have already been reported murdered so far this year. Her letter was not on this subject but that does not mean that I failed to understand what she was getting at.

I was only referring to part of what she had to say, the rest was my opinion on the content of her letter.

So, in this case, the pot was calling the kettle black.