Killers, thugs and arsonists ... all free to walk the streets while serving their sentences in SNP’s soft touch Scotland
KILLERS and brutal thugs are among the hardened female criminals being freed to roam Scotland’s streets in a move that campaigners last night branded ‘outrageous’.
Reigniting the debate around ‘soft touch’ justice for women, The Scottish Mail on Sunday can reveal the serious crimes committed by female offenders currently serving their sentences in community units outside prison.
New information shows that eight women guilty of murder, culpable homicide, wilful fireraising, assault to severe injury and misuse of drugs are being housed in ‘independent living units’ rather than being locked up in jail.
The women have their own house keys and regularly travel into the community to go shopping or to go on work placements without a chaperone or electronic tagging.
Situated around 200 yards away from the local primary school, the six white semi-detached houses next door to the women’s prison at Cornton Vale resemble ordinary three-bedroom family homes.
Yet behind the unguarded doors live criminals who have committed a string of serious offences.
Last week, we witnessed a number of criminals leave their houses and take the bus into Stirling city centre.
One inmate, Georgina Smith, who was jailed for 12 years in 2014 after a gang of which she was part tortured and killed a vulnerable man, was seen leaving her independent living unit on a number of occasions.
Smith’s victim, Scott Blackwood, was stabbed, scalded, burnt, beaten with wood and metal poles, doused in turpentine, had his cheekbones and an eye socket smashed, three ribs broken and part of an ear bitten off.
Wearing her blonde hair loose around her shoulders and a black parka coat, on Thursday Smith was seen smiling as she left the unit.
Hours later she returned with a large suitcase and a Primark shopping bag before letting herself into the house.
Yesterday Smith’s estranged brother, Craig Moriarty, who gave evidence against her at her trial, reacted with fury to news of her prisoner privileges.
He said: ‘It’s outrageous that she could do what she did and not have to serve the full 12 years. The levels of violence were unbelievable. She’s a psychopath – always has been and always will be.’
He added that he was already concerned for his own and his family’s safety once she was released from prison and had tried to find out from the authorities where she would be housed, to no avail.
Mr Moriarty said: ‘We’ve been told that she’s looking for revenge and that none of us are safe when she’s out. I contacted Victim Support but they said they can only help the family of the victim.
‘The police told me they can only do something if she turns up at our house or confronts us in the street.
‘I gave evidence because what she did was wrong. She’s evil and shouldn’t be out and about in society. To see her allowed to go shopping and carry on with her life while that boy lies in his grave is disgusting. How can that be justice?’
Meanwhile, campaigners have said the units are an affront to the justice system and to victims. The National Victims’ Association’s Kevin Hogg, whose mother Julie Hogg was murdered in 1989 – leading to a campaign that overturned England’s double jeopardy laws in 2004 – called on the Scottish Government to review the units.
Mr Hogg, 32, said: ‘This is absolutely outrageous. These units are such an injustice to the victims and to their families. Georgina has only served five years of her sentence so they are assessing her for release six years early.
‘How can the Scottish Prison Service actually monitor this individual safely? How can they possibly be keeping the public safe? These women have a normal life while the victims’ families’ lives are in tatters – and the state is paying for this.
‘This has compelled me to write to the Scottish Government and I will write how outraged I am. Only last week Nicola Sturgeon was speaking to Theresa May about how victims are at the heart of the Criminal Justice System – well, evidently not. This has gone far beyond soft touch justice now.’
The units were introduced to HMP Cornton Vale around 15 years ago and are used as part of a prisoner pre-release programme.
The women are encouraged to live as independently as possible, cooking, cleaning and shopping for themselves – with an allowance supplied by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) – so they are better equipped to reintegrate into society.
Officials insist that residents are not free to come and go as they please – and that restrictions are imposed on individual residents.
According to the SPS, the buildings are monitored by CCTV and the houses are regularly checked by prison officers. If a prisoner is found with any contraband they are sent back to the main prison.
But critics say the unit is a symptom of a Criminal Justice System that is more lenient to women, offering them easier sentencing despite the severity of their crimes.
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said that although women’s circumstances should be taken into consideration during sentencing, punishment must fit the crime.
He said: ‘I cannot believe many
‘These units are an injustice to victims and their families’
people consider the punishment given to Smith was sufficient given the nature of her crime.
‘Nor do I think most people believe she should be punished less severely because of her sex.’
Last year it was reported that a killer mother became pregnant while living in an independent unit after she sloped off for sex sessions during a work placement. Kayleigh Murray, jailed for culpable homicide in 2010, allegedly left her shop shifts to meet her ex-boyfriend.
In 2011, four thugs were seen out in the community after being placed in independent living units. One inmate, Maureen Tarbett, sentenced to five years and seven months in 2009 for selling heroin, was seen pushing a pram in Stirling.
A spokesman for the SPS said: ‘Independent living units are an important element in the preparation for release from custody.
‘They allow individuals to be tested with community access and to develop independent living skills to better equip them for reintegration into the community.’