Your son’s killer? He walked free 5 hours ago
Mother’s ‘soul-destroying’ treatment by justice system
‘It’s not good enough’
THE mother of a murder victim was not told her son’s killer was being freed from jail until five hours after he had returned home.
Lynn Burns’s only child, Sam Johnston, was just 22 when he was stabbed to death at a party in 2013.
Stuart McCulloch was found guilty of his murder the following year and the 18-year-old was sentenced to at least 13 years and five months behind bars.
His friend Allan Carey, then 19, was jailed for three years for culpable homicide over the death, in Saltcoats, Ayrshire.
Yesterday, Mrs Burns told Justice Minister Humza Yousaf how the justice system had added to her distress.
She said Carey had been released on bail pending appeal days after being convicted but did not return to custody until February 2016 – and had assaulted a woman while free.
He served 17 months in jail then was released on a Home Detention Curfew (HDC) back to Mrs Burns’s hometown of Ardrossan, Ayrshire. He was free for five hours before Mrs Burns and her family were told – a move branded ‘not acceptable’ by the grieving mother.
Mrs Burns called for more compassion for victims’ relatives, saying the way she was treated was ‘soul-destroying’. This included being told her son was ‘evidence’ and that she should not see his body due to the damage caused by multiple post-mortem examinations.
When she attended court for the murder trial – which started a day after the first anniversary of her son’s death – a police officer told her he could not find the case because he did not recognise her son’s name.
Mrs Burns said: ‘It’s not good enough and we can do better.’
She is helping to create Victim Support Scotland’s new support service for families bereaved by murder and culpable homicide.
The organisation has been awarded £1.2million of Scottish Government funding over three years for the service, which is due to start next spring.
Mrs Burns said: ‘It will provide tailored, clear support for people on an ongoing basis. Hopefully it will help people.
‘I want to see continuity. It’s really important that families have one point of contact.
‘It would also be good to have clarity in terms of sentencing. Does three years mean three years because at the moment it seems like it doesn’t?’
Mr Yousaf said: ‘Clearly there’s some gaps within the system.’
He added: ‘The vast majority of what I heard from Lynn doesn’t need legislation or parliamentary commissions.
‘Some of it is very much common sense but also ensuring that we have more compassion within the system.
‘It’s about making sure we are communicating with each other right from the police to the Crown. Of course, government as well, where appropriate.’
Victim Support Scotland chief executive Kate Wallace, who set up the meeting, said she hoped families would get access to a dedicated core worker.