Thursday, 19th June 2008
Source: The Scotsman
Location: Edinburgh
'We can't assure public that they are protected' says leading sheriff
ONE of Scotland's most prominent legal figures today launched a scathing attack on a "nameless official" who freed a frequent offender less than a third of the way into his sentence.
Sheriff Robert Dickson, who is president of the Sheriffs' Association, said judges could "no longer give any assurance to the public that they are going to be protected for any particular period" if civil servants continued to overule a court's sentence.
Jason Jarvie, 20, was locked up for 15 months on March 14 last year for a string of offences including violence, dishonesty, public disorder and drugs misuse.
But he was allowed out on a home curfew order on August 3 2007 after just four and a half months behind bars – despite having a history of repeatedly breaching court orders to curb his freedom.
Within weeks, "mindless" Jarvie went on to cause £150 worth of damage to a house in Airdrie, while still on probation and subject to the order.
Sheriff Dickson today criticised the "nameless official" who freed Jarvie without knowing all the facts of the case.
He also warned he could not assure the public that they would be protected if sheriffs' decisions were overruled in such a way.
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