Douglas Ross warned Nicola Sturgeon the justice system is “stacked against victims” at First Minister’s Questions.
On International Violence Against Women’s Day, the Scottish Conservative Leader raised numerous cases of horrific crimes against women in Scotland.
Douglas Ross said “victims are routinely left in the dark” and highlighted broken promises to victim’s families, including the family of Michelle Stewart, who was tragically murdered in 2008.
He cited a Freedom of Information response showing that just 37 victims have been informed of their offender’s release date out of around 4,500 criminals serving short sentences.
The First Minister committed to writing to Douglas Ross with the answers she couldn’t provide about Michelle’s Law and promises to the Stewart family.
Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross said: “Tragically more and more women in Scotland become victims of crime each year.
“It is the first task of government to keep the public safe – and the SNP Government is failing on that front.
“The broken promises to victims of crime are mounting.
“The Stewart family have asked for updates on the progress of Michelle’s Law because the SNP have dragged their heels instead of acting.
“The First Minister dodged answering if a key promise to the Stewart family over the tagging and GPS monitoring of serious and violent criminals would be met.
“The SNP routinely leave victims in the dark about where criminals end up and when they will be let out.
“How can women who suffer from the most horrific crimes – and their families - feel safe when they’re kept in the dark about the release of dangerous offenders?
“They have no idea if they’ll be walking down the street in their own community and come face to face with their attacker.
“The SNP’s soft-touch justice system is stacked against victims. It must change now to prevent a repeat of what happened to Caroline Glachan, Esther Brown, Michelle Stewart and thousands of other victims across Scotland.”
Notes
Just 37 victims have been told when an offender in their case is going to be released from prison if they were sentenced to 18 months or less. A freedom of information response stated: ‘The SPS can confirm it currently has 37 victims registered against 38 convicted offenders with a sentence of 18 months or less. All 37 registered vicitms have been informed of the offenders SED and their earliest date of liberation (EDL).’ (Scottish Prison Service, Freedom of information response HQ21158, 15 October 2021, Attached).
This means just 0.8% of victims are notified of when the offender in their case is set to be released for this category of prisoner. As 8,324 criminals were sentenced to 12 months and assuming approximately half of those sentenced to between 1-2 years were sentenced to between 12-18 months – 9,124 criminals were sentenced 18 months or less in 2019-20. This makes up about 82% of prisoners sentenced in that year. As of 15 October 2021, when the freedom of information response from SPS was received the sentenced prison population stood at 5,422. This means approximately 4,466 prisoners at the time were serving sentences of 18 months or less. This means, assuming one victim per crime, 0.8% of victims are notified of a prisoner’s release. (Scottish Government, Criminals Proceedings in Scotland 2019-20, 18 May 2021, Table 10(a), link; Scottish Prison Service, Prison population, Accessed 24 November 2021, link).
2020-21 recorded the largest year-on-year rise in domestic abuse charges on record. Since comparable statistics have been recorded in 2013-14, 2020-21 saw the largest rise in domestic abuse charges ever recorded. 33,425 charges were recorded in 2020-21, a rise of 2,707 charges in just a single year. 30,718 charges were recorded in 2019-20. (COPFS, Domestic Abuse and Stalking Charges, 7 September 2021, Table 1, link).
The number of sexual crimes has more than doubled since the SNP came to power. In 2007-08, the number of sexual crimes recorded stood at 6,552. This increased to 13,131 in 2020-21, a rise of over 100%. (Scottish Government, Recorded Crime in Scotland 2020-21, 28 September 2021, Table 6, link).
Humza Yousaf promised concrete action on Michelle’s Law but many provisions still haven’t been implemented. In 2018, Humza Yousaf committed to taking ‘concrete action’ on delivering Michelle’s Law. However, victims still cannot speak at parole board hearings or at temporary release applications and there has been little progress on increasing use of exclusion zones. (Official Report, 6 September 2018, link; Legislation.gov, Parole Board Rules 2001, Accessed 25 November 2021, link).
Murder victim Michelle Stewart’s sister said victims get no warning if criminals are in their local area. Lisa Stewart said: ‘We get no warning that he is out in our local area. What happens if we come across him; is any thought given to the victims? The only thing we ask is that he is relocated away from our area.’ (Daily Record, 25 October 2021, link).
Our Victims Law would bring in Michelle’s Law. Michelle’s Law is a victims’ rights initiative launched by the family of a murder victim which would make victims’ voices heard during parole and temporary release hearings and would prevent killers from returning to the community they traumatised. (Scottish Conservatives, Victims Law, 1 September 2021, link).