We need justice for victims
As an investigative journalist, I heard regular accounts from crime victims about their distress being compounded by Scotland’s criminal justice system.
People who suffered horrific and perhaps life-changing acts of violence or sexual violence and put their faith in justice felt badly let down.
There are the cases which drag through court for years, causing perpetual anxiety and uncertainty.
There are the cases of rape victims being made to feel as if they were on trial due to degrading cross-examination.
Then the botched cases or apparently solid cases - dropped with no explanation given.
And cases resulting in plea deals, with charges watered down or deleted and victims not even told what’s happening.
As an MSP for under three years, I’d like to say that such horror stories are in the past, but the truth is that on a daily basis, victims of serious crime continue to be failed and disrespected.
A frequent cause of confusion and trauma is sentencing.
In 2015, the Scottish Sentencing Council came into being. Created by the SNP government, one of its main jobs is to promote sentencing consistency.
Comprised mostly of different types of lawyers (judges, sheriffs, prosecutors, solicitors etc), it has produced several guidelines.
These include the instruction that criminals aged under 25 should only be sent to prison as a last resort and that if they are jailed, the sentence should be shorter than for those aged 25 and up.
Their rationale being that under 25s “are not fully developed and may not have attained full maturity”.
I’d love the SNP to reconcile this with their view that 16-year-olds are entrusted with voting and should be legally allowed to change gender, no questions asked.
The guidelines have become a novel way to inflict yet more pain on victims.
An alleged child rapist got community service, prompting JK Rowling to say that sex offenders are being told “first one’s free”.
But it’s not just sex criminals being treated like kids. There are violent gang members who inflicted permanent injuries on innocent people, drug dealers, fraudsters and a hit-and-run driver who killed a 15-year-old boy.
Perhaps the most shocking example was that of a mum-of-two who was beaten, raped, then set on fire when she was still alive.
Her 24-year-old killer got a reduced sentence because of his age.
When I challenged Humza Yousaf, his response was typically mealy-mouthed and Scottish Conservative calls to scrap the guidelines, or for them not to apply in the most serious crimes, have been ignored.
Last month, I launched a new policy to put victims at the heart of the Scottish Sentencing Council.
We would require six of the 12 council members to be crime victims or their surviving relatives. It is currently just one.
We would also allow any victim member to veto proposed guidelines.
Finally, we would make the council accountable to the Scottish Parliament.
These common sense improvements would at least begin the process of giving long overdue consideration and respect to victims.