Homelessness crisis

Sir – You report (September 9) that 100 prisoners a month are released to sleep in the streets, but the bigger scandal is that people suffering from mental illness are often discharged from hospital when they have no safe place to live.

I spent decades representing decent law-abiding people struggling with a mental disorder that made everyday tasks extremely challenging. Too many had no place they could call home so they became targets for the bad who exploited and abused them or the good but ill-informed who stigmatised them. Obtaining essential medication is difficult or impossible without a settled address.

This is a long-standing scandal that causes much suffering and costs the taxpayer huge amounts.

West Mersea, Essex