Get out of jail fiasco

IT is impossible to underestimate the seriousness of the crime carried out by Allan Strachan: in an unprovoked attack just yards from the High Court, he knocked a man to the ground then kicked him and stamped repeatedly on his head.

A jury found him guilty of attempted murder, a judge sentenced him to seven years in jail.

Yet, as we reveal today, the prison service has gone to extraordinary lengths to make this thug’s life as agreeable as possible.

Over the past two years he has been freed for an astonishing 17 periods of ‘home leave’ – to the extent that Strachan’s eight-year-old son apparently does not even realise his father is in prison.

The laxity of the jail regime has allowed this violent criminal to turn up at Christmas celebrations, at birthday parties and even to take part in the school run.

Yet this is a prisoner who – in even the limited period he has actually spent behind bars – carried out two additional criminal offences. And when he failed to return from one period of home leave, police warned that he was a danger to the public.

Yes, it is easy to argue that maintaining family ties is a vital part of an offender’s rehabilitation.

But this troubling case shows that Scotland’s prison system has lost sight of the bigger picture: the public must be kept safe and victims of crime must be reassured that justice is done.

It is plainly wrong that a seven-year prison sentence has stopped being a meaningful punishment and has become little more than an inconvenience.