‘Payback’ justice... as grinning of fenders play GOLF
THEY were meant to be paying their debt to society.
But a group of criminals instead filmed themselves playing golf.
Footage has emerged of the offenders in the latest example of ‘soft-touch’ justice via community payback orders (CPOs).
The Scottish Government has come under increasing criticism amid claims the non-custodial sentences are used to deal with serious crimes.
Critics have said the work offenders are ordered to complete is too easy and does not constitute a true punishment.
The golf game was filmed while the offenders were doing unpaid work on CPOs in Aberfeldy, Perthshire.
It was uploaded online under the title CS Masters – CS for community service.
In the clip, the men can be heard laughing and swearing as they play on a putting green in the town, where they had been despatched to repaint a pavilion on the community course.
Alexander Burns, 31, of Perth, was declared the ‘CS golf champ’ on social media. Last summer, he was sentenced to 220 hours of unpaid work, a 15month supervision requirement and told to pay £300 in compensation after assaulting a man.
The other players have not been identified.
Perth and Kinross Council said the group was given permission to play the game on their lunch break. But the video has prompted criticism of sentencing which allowed the men to enjoy a ‘jolly’.
A source close to the incident told a local paper the group was meant to be supervised by two members of council staff, saying: ‘They are on unpaid comthem munity payback, they are meant to be watched at all times during the whole eight hours.
‘Instead of going to jail they have been given community service and the staff have given a little holiday – a chance to play pitch and putt and post it on Facebook. It’s a mockery of the system. It annoys me.’
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Douglas Ross said: ‘CPOs are a form of punishment, so to see people playing mini-golf and filming it is galling for the victims of their crimes.
‘People on CPOs should genuinely pay back the communities that have suffered from their illegal activities rather than spend their time having a jolly.’
A spokesman for Perth and Kinross Council said: ‘At the request of the community, a small group of clients in the unpaid work team were repainting the Aberfeldy putting green pavilion on Sunday.
‘During a lunch break from the painting, they were given permission to play a round of golf on the putting green.’
In February, official figures revealed a record 19,410 criminals had been given community sentences in the past year.
But a Scottish Government spokesman insisted the scheme was working. He said: ‘People on CPOs are subject to robust and ongoing management in the community. We have provided the courts with a range of sanctions for cases of breach.’