Video link sentencing plan foiled by the law

Man can’t be sentenced in Perth remotely as he is already serving time in England

A court bid to sentence a violent man by video link has been scuppered – because he is in England.

Plans to save the taxpayer thousands of pounds in Gary Lloyd’s case have been foiled because new rules only apply if the accused is being videoed within Scotland.

Lloyd, 46, was due to be sentenced via video link at Perth Sheriff Court on Friday but justice has now been delayed for several weeks because he is in an English prison.

A frustrated sheriff noted that Lloyd would have to be transferred to a Scottish jail to be sentenced remotely – and said he may as well be brought all the way to court instead.

Lloyd, from Sunderland, is serving a lengthy sentence in Holme House Prison in Stockton-on-Tees.

He had earlier admitted attacking Marc Cushnie in the Robert Burns bar in Perth on August 15 2016 by repeatedly punching him on the head and body to his injury.

He admitted leaving his victim permanently impaired by breaking one of his fingers, which meant he struggled to pursue his hobby of guitar playing.

Sentence was deferred until Friday for the court to investigate whether Lloyd could be sentenced remotely by video link to avoid the cost of bringing him to Perth when he is already serving a jail term.

Solicitor Cliff Culley, defending Lloyd, said: “That investigation hasn’t been particularly fruitful. The legislation allows a video link with a person detained any place – in Scotland.

“If he is having to come to Scotland then he might as well be here in the court.”

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis agreed and heard that transferring a prisoner from an English jail to a Scottish jail could take several weeks – even though they may be little more than 100 miles apart.

“Although sentencing can take place by video link, it requires to be in accordance with a direction by the Lord Justice General,” Sheriff Foulis said.

“Although Perth Sheriff Court is covered by the protocol, the prisons which are covered are only Scottish prisons. So I think he has to be brought here, or at the very least, brought to a Scottish prison.”

Sheriff Foulis deferred sentence again until February 28 and ordered that Lloyd be brought to the court to appear personally.

In June last year, a killer dubbed the country’s most disruptive prisoner was jailed by live video link in the first case of its kind in Scotland.

Adam Gallagher, 30, who is serving a life sentence for murder, was not allowed to appear in person at Perth Sheriff Court because he is deemed too dangerous and was instead sentenced remotely to 326 days in prison after he trashed cells at Perth Prison.

Although Perth Sheriff Court is covered by the protocol, the prisons which are covered are only Scottish prisons. SHERIFF LINDSAY FOULIS