A life ruined – it MUST be case for High Court

AMAN subjects his wife to three decades of violence and misery, even drawing up timetables and tasks, and punishing her for not fulfilling them…

No wonder the procurator fiscal called this ‘one of the very worst cases of domestic abuse’ which ‘completely eroded the complainer’s sense of self-worth’.

In short, the perpetrator has ruined this woman’s life.

A society getting tough on domestic abuse would prove it by getting extremely tough on a criminal such as this.

If ever there was a case that deserved the clout of the High Court, it is this horror from Shetland.

Instead, this case was heard in a sheriff court, where sentencing powers are limited.

Since its creation, Police Scotland has gone out of its way to make sure the public knows tackling domestic abuse is one of its top priorities.

This approach, quite rightly, has been backed by all Scotland’s political parties, and there’s genuine agreement across the board that what was once a taboo subject now needs to be dragged into the open and dealt with firmly.

But people will now be questioning if there is any point in the police pursing a stringent approach if they’re not backed up across the whole justice system.

Most people reading the horrific detail of the Shetland case, cruelly and methodically perpetrated over 30 years, would agree that any court passing sentence ought to have the full powers at its disposal.

Of course, the SNP government can’t interfere directly in cases such as this, and certainly not while sentence is yet to be passed. But it can lay down stricter guidelines on how people guilty of this type of crime should be punished.

Instead, in recent weeks, we’ve seen both First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Justice Secretary Michael Matheson tell the Scottish parliament they want to abolish jail sentences of less than a year.

Since 99 per cent of domestic abusers sentenced to prison get less than a year, it means many perpetrators will go straight back to the home where the offences were committed.

I don’t doubt the Scottish Government’s sincerity when it says that it wants to deal with domestic violence with the utmost severity.

However, the very policies ministers want to implement would let abusers off the hook and terrify the poor victims whose lives have already been marred by this appalling issue.

This individual in Shetland will, in all likelihood, spend some kind of period in jail.

But will it be a sufficient punishment for decades of abuse and torment? Nothing like it.

It looks like we have to accept this was a missed opportunity to hand a deservingly hefty punishment to a bully and a thug.

Now it’s up to ministers to put in place a solid framework to ensure future domestic abusers don’t get off similarly lightly.