"All Amy sees in her mind is the picture of her Daddy being beaten to death and lying on the ground, lifeless."

Those are the extraordinarily moving words of Garry Newlove's widow after the trial of three drunken yobs, convicted of kicking him to death, came to an end.

Can you imagine what Helen Newlove and her children must have gone through? The only good to have been born of this terrible tale, apart from the locking up of three vile specimens of humanity, is that she has had the courage to ask key questions of our society. Should life mean life? Do parents take enough respons- ibility? Why are gangs of youths allowed to congregate on streets, putting fear into people simply wanting to pass?

Importantly, she also raised the question of the problems caused by alcohol.

"For too long youngsters have been drinking and smoking into the early hours and then deciding to do acts of criminal damage and beat people up as a joke," she said in her brave statement.

With dignity, Mrs Newlove has held a mirror up to the ugly side of our culture.

Coincidentally, a conference in Bournemouth yesterday outlined how alcohol-related health problems and crime were sweeping through society. Delegates spoke, for example, of the "silent epidemic of elderly" who drink secretly to overcome loneliness.

Many worrying issues were raised. But the fulcrum of concern right now, spelt out so poignantly by Mrs Newlove, is how to tackle violence triggered by drunkenness.

This is a big social question but we should remember two things as we debate it.

Firstly, only a tiny minority of young people cause trouble on the streets.

Secondly, when drunken violence occurs, often behind closed doors, the bully can be of any age.