A total of 31,211 crimes were committed over the past three years by offenders who were on bail at the time, the Scottish Conservatives have discovered via a Freedom of Information request.
This means that in total more than 1 in eight crimes in Scotland are committed by criminals who were released on bail.
Among these crimes were 29 cases of murder or homicide, 19 cases of rape and 557 attempted murders or serious assaults.
Yet the SNP Government want to make courts use bail more often, by making it more difficult to justify the use of remand.
These proposals are part of a wider SNP package that could see the time at which criminals are automatically released from their sentences cut to a third.
Judges have condemned the early release plans, while the Scottish Conservatives are warning that all of these proposals would increase crime levels, and are urging the SNP Government to ditch them immediately.
Scottish Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Jamie Greene MSP, said: “These figures show the risk of letting dangerous criminals back on to our streets.
“It is shocking to see such a consistently high proportion of crimes being committed by those who were supposed to be monitored – it is clear the current arrangements for monitoring those on bail are inadequate.
“Yet instead of toughening up bail arrangements, the SNP shockingly want to make it even easier for judges to use bail despite the fact criminals find it so easy to ignore their bail conditions by going on to commit thousands of crimes every year, including murder.
“Scotland’s top judges are already concerned that the SNP are tying their hands in decision-making with the further watering down of sentences via early release. They rightly point out that we are at serious risk of losing public confidence in our justice system.
“I urge the SNP Government to ditch these proposals immediately – otherwise public safety will be put at even greater risk.”
Notes
In the last three years, more than 30,000 crimes were committed by criminals on bail. Between 2017-18 and 2019-20, the latest data that is available, 31,211 crimes were committed in Scotland by criminals who were on bail at the time. In 2017-18, 11,346 crimes were committed followed by 10,222 in 2018-19 and 9,643 in 2019-20. (Scottish Government, Freedom of information response 202200283333, 23 March 2022, Attached).
This included 29 murders or homicides. In 2017-18, 11 murders or culpable homicides were committed, compared to 7 in 2018-19 and increasing back up to 11 in 2019-20. (Scottish Government, Freedom of information response 202200283333, 23 March 2022, Attached).
More than 1 in 8 crimes in Scotland are committed by individuals on bail. There were a total of 236,470 crimes for which a criminal was convicted between 2017-18 and 2019-20 with 82,716 in 2017-18, 78,503 in 2018-19 and 75,251 in 2019-20. As 31,211 crimes were committed by individuals on bail during those years, that means more than 1 in 8 crimes were committed by individuals on bail. (Scottish Government, Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2019-20, 18 May 2021, link; Scottish Government, Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2018-19, 31 March 2020, Table 8(a), link).
The SNP Government wants to make it easier for courts to grant bail for those accused of crimes. The Bail and Release from custody consultation states: ‘One of the grounds relevant for the question of bail, set out in section 23C(1)(a) of the 1995 Act, is a substantial risk that the person might, if granted bail, abscond or fail to appear. It is proposed that use of remand should be adjusted so that any decision to refuse bail must be justified on public safety grounds.’ This would remove one of the current reasons judges can refuse to grant bail – therefore increasing the likelihood that is used. (Scottish Government, Consultation on Bail and Release from Custody Arrangements in Scotland, 15 November 2021, link).
Judges have condemned the SNP’s early release plans: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/early-release-plan-attacked-by-judges-f0wc6rtlt