NOW PUT THE VICTIMS FIRST
As Justice Minister orders review into father’s murder at hands of thug who should have been in jail, Tories demand:
JUSTICE Secretary Michael Matheson has ordered a review into Scotland’s ‘softtouch’ home curfew system following the brutal killing of a young father.
Craig McClelland, 31, was murdered by a serial knife thug who had been ‘unlawfully at large’ for six months after police failed to arrest him when he breached his curfew.
Earlier this week, a court heard a powerful victim impact statement from his partner telling of the devastating effect on their three children. Stacey McClelland added that the justice system had ‘completely failed to protect an innocent man’.
Mr Matheson has demanded answers over the ‘appalling case’, including why James Wright was free to attack Mr McClelland despite having 16 previous convictions – two of them for knife crimes.
There will also be a wider review into how Home Detention Curfews (HDCs) are granted, and how police deal with offenders who breach their release conditions.
But critics say the Justice Secretary has failed to go far enough, with the Tories demanding a ‘shake-up’ of all early release schemes, including HDCs and parole.
Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘In Scotland, the truth is that victims are too often being taken for granted.’ Details
of the probes – to be conducted by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary – were revealed by Mr Matheson when he appeared before Holyrood’s justice committee.
Speaking about the death of Mr McClelland, he said: ‘This is clearly an appalling case and raises a number of questions which I can understand the family will want to have answers to – and I want answers to as well.’
The Justice Secretary said two aspects of the case would be reviewed, the first ‘relating to the assessment process in determining the decision for this individual to receive home detention curfew. And the second element is the period of time after there had been a breach of that detention curfew for the investigation into his apprehension’.
He added: ‘It is important that we do ensure answers are provided to how this particular case has been handled and on both of those aspects. The decision made by the Scottish Prison Service in making that determination in the first place and secondly the police handling of the matter.’
HDCs are made at the discretion of prison governors and allow criminals to serve part of their sentence in the community wearing a tag. Critics have branded the scheme ‘armchair custody’ that puts the public at risk.
Both the HMIP and HMIC will report directly to Mr Matheson and he will ‘determine any further actions’ that are needed.
But Mr Kerr said a ‘full review’ was needed, and he called for victims to be allowed to attend and speak at parole hearings.
He added: ‘This case clearly shows home curfew is in need of a shake-up. It seems too weighted against the safety and interests of victims of crime.
‘When dangerous criminals are considered for home leave, that’s a process the victims deserve to be involved in and have influence over.
‘In Scotland, the truth is that victims are too often being taken for granted thanks to a culture of secrecy that governs decisionmaking.
‘We therefore need a shake-up of the entire system to tilt it back in favour of the victim.’
Wright was sentenced to at least 20 years in prison on Monday for stabbing Mr McClelland to death in a random attack in Paisley, Renfrewshire, in July last year.
Nationalist MSP George Adam, who represents Paisley, said it was ‘tragic’ for anyone to die at such a young age, but the circumstances had heaped pain on the victim’s loved ones.
In her victim impact statement, which was read out in court, Miss McClelland said: ‘I have to watch our three sons in pain, sobbing, crying, asking questions I cannot answer; my three-year-old on his birthday built his daddy out of Lego; the despair in my six-yearold’s eyes when I couldn’t build a Lego set for him, not in the same way daddy did; the devastating sound of my baby searching for his daddy in the night – constantly shouting on him – the way he flaps his arms in excitement whenever he sees a picture of his daddy, it completely breaks my heart.’
Wright carried out the attack after breaching his HDC and was ‘unlawfully at large’ for six months.
G4S, the firm that runs the tagging system, was alerted that there had been an attempt to tamper with the tag on February 23. It is also understood that the person who owned the property where Wright was living at the time withdrew consent for him to be monitored there. A decision was then taken to recall him to custody.
The thug was serving a sentence in Low Moss Prison, near Glasgow, for knife crime when he was granted an HDC in February 2017. Only 11 days after his release he breached the conditions by tampering with his tag.
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