Oh please.
Intellectulaising for the sake of it is so disingenious.
The last paragraph is especially predictable.
Show a bit of respect, even if you reckon the proles can't.

sandie smith, grangemouth,

It is important for the public to understand the level of cruelty inflicted on Baby P so that justice can be served. Now that the public is aware of the horrors and has a face to attach to the name 'Baby P', authorities can no longer pass the buck or avoid accountability. Neither can the murderers.

Lisa, Tucson, AZ, USA

I wish it were unnecessary for the horrific details to have been published. I felt as though I could not ignore them, as the little guy couldn't ignore them. I have cried a million tears for the little man. But sharing the info will get more action, and that's yet another sad part to this whole case

Emma, London,

I agree. I cannot understand why the details of the poor baby's torture have to be made public - as far as I can see that is to noone's benefit, unless they have a voyeuristic interest in the suffering of children.

The fact is that a baby was abused for months and died. That's enough.

Anna, London,

It's the images of what's happened to baby P that made me cry for days. It's the images that made me rush to my own children and hug and kiss them till they escaped. It's the images that made me finally apply to become a foster carer (because there's a shortage of good ones and I'm a good mom).

Rozagy, Birmingham, UK

I agree with J Graham. We do not need to know the detail behind the abuse. The fact that Baby P died (together with 4 children a week) should be sufficient evidence to focus public and Minister attention on the issue. People are becoming desensitised and need shocking facts to get their attention.

Susan, Stirling, Scotland

If we are so used to reading horrible stories that we need pictures, how long before we are so used to pictures? Then what?

Christina, Memphis, USA

I can understand the point made, however it was the images that conveyed the full horror of the story. We're so used to reading stories of violence and cruelty nowadays that they have little impact. I think the images were necessary. in this case to jog people's complacency and provoke reaction.

Ann, Liverpool,

The basic premise of the article is all wrong. It can only help to have a very clear idea of what we are talking about. It certainly helps bureaucrats to evade responsibility if the reporting is bland and understated.

David, Paris,

We might easily ask how many more willfully inflicted tortures will babies still endure by sadistic parents or their relational others before their mangled innocent bodies are no longer mere statistics. Shocking as they are Baby P's injuries reverberate in our hearts and symbolise his unheeded cries

Kember Pamela, Hong Kong/london,

I too am horrified and appalled at Baby P's death. I am angry too, at Janice Turner's assumptiion that the people most disturbed by it are mothers with young children. I don't have children, by choice, but my feelings are no different.

V Garrett, Hong Kong,

If Ms Turner is saying we shouldn't revel in the disguting, fine. But Nicola, Oxford, England, is right; and for me it wasn't enough to know that Dave Pelzer had survived, I needed to see how he found the strength and courage at such a young age to so. This needs to be known too.

Adele, Frankfurt,

The reprots of sexual abuse of James Bulger are untrue and were spread by chain letter. This makes the point; a lot of people wanted them to be true.

Franl Upton, Solihull,

In Australia there have been several instances of unbelievable child abuse usually ending in the poor victim's death. There is little discussion of the dysfunctional single mothers, parasite boyfriends living in govt housing with drug, psychological issues that are allowed to have children.

pdev, sydney, australia

I do object to my being interested in reading such things as reflecting negatively on my morals or attitude to children. I was glued to the Dave Pelzer books because it was the first time I started to understand some of my emotions from my childhood and I felt less alone. Don't be so quick to judge.

Nicola, Oxford, England

This death was caused by complacency by the council (plus mother, stepfather, lodgers). This now needs to be shaken off and if telling the awful truth does this trick then it MUST be done.

I have prayed & cried for this lovely innocent boy each day. It must be the last death. RIP sweet Baby P.

Ann, London,

The words of the director of Haringey:
"We cannot stop people who want to torture and kill their children,"
is a statement of utter horror. Is it not HER DUTY to stop them?

San Ying, Montreal, Canada

i agree it needed to be published about what this young boy suffered and the fact it has been publicised so much means greater possibility of those responsible getting what they deserve once jailed they make me sick speaking as a mother of a young child! how the hell did he suffer so much??!!!

Nikki, wolverhampton , uk

Many of us, who have 'seen' the abuse of a child and who have had to make a child abuse report to the relevant authorites, will not read the details of Child P's torture.
We are in a state of worry and fear for 'our' identified 'at risk' children who are reliant on child protection in practice !

Tessa Boo, London,

I am a school Child Protection Co-ordinator and my job is extremely frustrating due to unnecessary beaurocracy within the 'system'. Reading details of this case is harrowing but without those details there will be many more Baby Ps. The system needs a sea change, I hope this outcry will bring one?

Emma, Swindon,

I had to turn the tv off. I haven't been able to read the details. I think it's salacious to print the victim's photo. I agree with the writer of this article- it's a kind of porn.

eric, paris,

Well argued, but I disagree.
The full horror of what was done to baby P had to be exposed. This wasn't 'mere' cruelty it was a crime on a par with Nazi death camps. Both the perpetrators and the incompetent 'professionals' involved need to be exposed and appropriate action taken against them.

Anthony Price, Truro, Cornwall, UK

"Compare a movie certificated 12A (suitable for accompanied children) a decade ago and one made this year."

I wish we could but a decade ago there was no such thing as a 12A film - the certificate didn't exist.

Anthony James, Dorchester, Dorset

Quite right Janice. Its done to sell newspapers. No purpose whatsoever.

palepete, Ferndown, UK

I absolutely could not agree more. Even if I was not a mother myself I would find it impossible to read the unneccesarily graphic facts of this poor child's death. We simply do not need every horific detail spelled out for us. At least allow this poor innocent the dignity he was denied in life.

J Graham, Glasgow,

got no words just tear's and lots of them. i don't and never will understand people that cause harm to there own. all he should of got was love, kisses, cuddles and safe home. r.i.p sweet baby p the hurt is over, your in a safe place x x x

faye rice, burton-on-trent,

People are becoming more and more desensitised to horrific acts of violence – a sombre thought. The more details people are given the more desensitised they become; the more desensitised people become the more details they need.

Killy, Preston, England

I agreed strongly with this article. I would add that fathers, too, were so sickened by the coverage of baby P's death that he closed his newspaper. However, the last paragraph of your article weakened your argument by trading in the same hideous imagery that you so effectively condemned.

Maureen, Molesey,

personnally I felt morally obligated to read the facts, as if, by not doing so..i too am denying this child the dignity of being a human being. To ignore the details and flick the page over, to me, is like ignoring the child in death, as those did in his short, pitiful life. R.I.P Baby P.

S, London,

And what else do you expect any normal person should do?
After reading such horrific things calmly moving to a crossword?

Cath, London,

Some people seem addicted to the pornography of violence.

One of the guilty men liked ' Nazi memorabilia'. Did he get a thrill from images of death camps, whips, etc?

We must be given the unvarnished facts, as a step in moving public opinion towards better protection for children at risk.

Mike, Cardiff, U.K.

Having worked as a nurse/midwife for the last 30 yrs and experiencing the accountability we worked under, I am amazed at the apparent lack of common sense of most of those dealing with this mite.Apparently none of them lacked the ability to turn the other way!Sack all those who failed this child.

Lynda Duke, St.albans, England

What - no grisly remains unearthed in Jersey? You're right - disappointment is an honest reaction - along with big relief. Maturity means accepting the part of ourselves that revels in the grim and gory whilst ensuring that it does not manifest in our or other's behaviour.

Carol Tipping, Southampton, UK

The only people that need to see the gory images is the jury.

Hannah, London,

I am glad that Janice Turner wrote this comment because she voices exactly what I felt while coming accross all the big titles and articles about this poor baby. The story is horrifying and need to be acted upon but the depths of graphic details and orgy of comments sometimes feel just too much.

Thalbach, Josephine, London, England

I absolutely agree that the publication of the photos of Baby P today and yesterday does seem to go too far, I am one of the many who have been enormously distressed by the situation but we've had a week of the forensic reconstruction images and showing his photo doesn't solve anything.

Rachael, London, UK

I was shocked to read this article over my breakfast in the cafe. I was unusually sickened by the baby P. story but I took no pleasure from it.

Unless Janice Turner is a top psychologist, I think she should refrain from pigeon-holing our reactions to horror stories like this.

Jack Briggs, Huddersfield, UK

T o say that it is 'mothers'who are most anguished by the tragedy of Baby P is completely wrong.This is an issue of common humanity.ALL people,men and women,those with or without children,are appalled and horrified by this case.Don't imagine that only mothers can feel horror and distress .

anna, preston, england

I agree almost 100% with your article. However one small point, I'm sure as many fathers as mothers couldn't look at those pictures. We feel just as angry about these things as mothers do.

Kevin, Limerick,

The horrors of the baby P case must be told, the plight of this poor soul must be known to ensure we learn from the blatant mistakes that were made yet again. However lets not forget a baby died in horrific curcumstances and he and all images of him, must to be treated with respect.

susan pearce, HULL, BRITAIN

I have a 14 mth old and like most people, found the thought of Baby P dying in the way he did extremely difficult. I only read the headline story and after 3 days of thinking about it, searched to find out exactly what happened. It wasn't a thrill it was a way of coming to terms with what happened

Martha Hall, Leeds, England

Janice You are judging your colleagues too harshly. In the US there have been no reports at all on Baby P. The horror of his situation can best be described by the forensic images. This in fact is the most complete and most accurate reporting. To call it pornography is to insult the victim.

Mark O'Connor, Toledo Ohio, USA

I feel increasingly distressed that much as the reports horrify me as not only a mother, but as a human, we need to be aware that these 'monsters' exist.We can only learn & as a community we shoulds ALL protect our childrens precious lives. Knowledge is power & we should never turn a blind eye.

Fiona Arnold, Epping, Essex