Sheriff hits out at offender’s release

Violent criminal attacked man just days after arrest

A review has been ordered after a violent serial offender was freed to attack a teenager in Perth city centre just days after he had been arrested for battering another man in the street.

Cameron Burnside punched his 19-year-old victim in an unprovoked assault on August 24. He had previously been arrested, charged and freed after punching a 53-year-old through an open car window in another random attack.

Since 2015 he had garnered 12 convictions for threatening and abusive behaviour and seven for assault.

Jailing him for eight months, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said: “This is an observation but I feel it is a valid one. Perhaps, on reflection, Burnside’s record could have been looked at and he could have been kept in custody. This might have prevented Burnside assaulting the 19-year-old man.”

Police are to review why officers failed to keep a man with a history of violence in custody, following scathing comments from a Perth sheriff.

Cameron Burnside – who had 12 convictions for threatening behaviour and seven convictions for assault in the space of three years – had been arrested and charged with carrying out an unprovoked assault on a 53-year-old man in Kinross in July.

Police decided to release him, only for Burnside, 22, to then assault a 19-yearold in another unprovoked assault a few weeks later near a Perth nightclub.

The details came to light earlier this week at Perth Sheriff Court, when Sheriff Lindsay Foulis questioned why Burnside had not been kept in custody following the July assault.

Burnside, of Hays Court, Milnathort, pled guilty to both charges at the court.

During the legal proceedings, Sheriff Foulis told depute fiscal Robbie Brown it would have made “more sense” to keep Burnside in custody after he was arrested and charged for the first assault, given his criminal record.

“Burnside has 12 previous convictions for threatening and abusive behaviour, and seven previous convictions for assault – all carried out since 2015,” Sheriff Foulis said. “That means he has been convicted nearly 20 times in the space of just three years.

“This is an observation but I feel it is a valid one. Perhaps on reflection, Burnside’s record could have been looked at and he could have been kept in custody. This might have prevented Burnside assaulting the 19-year-old man in the second offence.”

A spokesperson for the Crown Office said: “We intimated to the sheriff that we would pass his comments on to the police.”

And a police spokesperson confirmed the force will now conduct a review of the matter.

“We note the comments from the sheriff and a review of the matter has been undertaken,” she said.

Mr Brown had told the court that Burnside punched the 53-year-old man through an open car window in an unprovoked attack following a function in Kinross around midnight on July 8.

“The complainer, who was known to the accused, was being picked up by car after the event and was sitting in the drivers’ seat when Burnside punched him several times on the head,” he said.

“The pair ended up in the street and the accused then ran towards the man.”

The court was told that the complainer managed to put a “headlock” on Burnside, but that did not stop the accused biting him on a finger.

Mr Brown also told the court that Burnside punched a 19-year-old male near the Ice Factory nightclub in Perth, while acting with another person, on August 24.

“The victim suffered a cut to his lip following the assault,” he said.

Sheriff Foulis sentenced Burnside to eight months in jail.

On reflection, Burnside’s record could have been looked at and he could have been kept in custody

If there is one thing guaranteed to get an opposition politician champing at the bit it is the very whiff of “soft-touch justice”. The policy of automatic early release, for example, must have generated literally thousands of headlines, with seething politicians reacting to news that criminals released early from jail terms have gone on to commit yet more heinous crimes.

It is often a fair criticism and there is no doubt the justice system falls some considerable way short of the ideal we would all envisage.

However, on many occasions the authorities do get it right, and there can be no doubt all those involved work hard to achieve the most appropriate results.

Yet, even with the best will in the world, there are times when things go badly wrong.

The case of Cameron Burnside is undoubtedly one such example.

Failing to keep a man with a history of violence in custody following the latest in a long line of assaults was a mistake — it does not even take the luxury of hindsight to work that out.

Anyone who has been convicted nearly 20 times in the space of just three years is a clear risk.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis was left baffled by the decision to release him following the latest allegation of criminality.

He will be far from alone.