Guilty plea loophole ‘could let abusers dodge jail’
HUNDREDS of criminals, including violent thugs and sex offenders, could be spared jail by making early guilty pleas under SNP moves to wipe out shorter sentences.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf is fast-tracking controversial plans to introduce a ‘presumption’ against jail terms of up to 12 months.
But a leading lawyer has warned the new rule could apply to sentences of up to 18 months where an early guilty plea is made, which earns the offender a ‘discount’.
The time taken off for a guilty plea can reduce the proposed term by a third, which means those who face an 18-month sentence could avoid jail time.
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘Thousands of criminals will be sent into a community justice system that is already overstretched, leaving victims vulnerable and criminals unpunished.
‘These are criminals who have been convicted of some extremely serious crimes including rape, drug crimes and violent assault.
‘For thousands of victims, the SNP’s soft-touch justice means no justice at all.’
Edinburgh Bar Association vicepresident Robert More told the Scottish Legal News journal: ‘Where an accused person pleads guilty immediately and the court takes the view that the crime or offence should properly attract a sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment, it can be expected that such a case will now attract the presumption against sentences of 12 months or less.’
He also warned of a further ‘catastrophic effect’ that the presumption will have on criminal legal aid, potentially reducing the number of criminal legal aid solicitors as the volume of summary business declines.
Mr More explained: ‘It is for the Crown to elect the forum in which a case is to be prosecuted. The maximum sentence which a summary case can attract is 12 months’ imprisonment.
‘Therefore, it stands to reason that if there is a presumption against such a sentence, the Crown will take the view that it is not in the public interest to prosecute it and will instead utilise an alternative to prosecution. That necessarily will have an impact on the incomes of legal aid lawyers.’
Laws enforcing a presumption against jailing offenders for less than 12 months could come into force by this summer. According to Scottish Government figures, 1,393 people were jailed in 2017-18 for up to two years.
There are no statistics for sentences of up to 18 months.
Crimes which led to sentences of between one and two years included attempted murder and serious assault (228 people) and sexual assault (32).
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The presumption will only apply in cases where a court has reached a view that a sentence of 12 months or less may be appropriate, having taken into account all relevant factors.’