Justice system must put the victims first

THE murder of father-of-three Craig McClelland was horrific and the fact that he might still be alive today but for failings in Scotland’s soft-touch justice regime adds a sickening twist.

His killer, James Wright, had been ‘unlawfully at large’ having ignored a farcical home detention curfew for six months. It is right that Justice Secretary Michael Matheson has now ordered an inquiry into why Wright was not in jail when he had 16 previous convictions, including two involving knives. Mr Matheson has also begun a wider review into how home detention curfews are granted and how police deal with those very many thugs who simply refuse to comply. But the reality that he needs to confront is that the Scottish Government has pursued a relentless soft-touch agenda.

Ministers are so in thrall to trendy notions that Mr Matheson thinks criminals should not be called ‘offenders’ lest it cause stigma.

When this sort of nonsense is given currency, no wonder victims feel that they have been pushed aside and forgotten while the rights and feelings of thugs are given undue precedence.

Mr Matheson’s inquiries cannot be allowed to offer up handy scapegoats to insulate the SNP from responsibility for the threadbare state of Police Scotland and a justice system designed to keep criminals out of jail.

As Liam Kerr, Scottish Tory justice spokesman, says: ‘People from all sections of society and all parts of the country want a government that’s tough on crime. They want to see a justice system which prioritises the safety of the public, then factors in deterrence, punishment and rehabilitation.

‘The SNP currently has the balance all wrong.’

The way to redress that balance is to put the victims first.