Automatic jail terms for knife carriers passes major hurdle

Published on Tuesday 13 April 2010 22:43

PLANS for automatic sentences of six months for possession of knives passed a key hurdle yesterday, narrowly winning the vote of a committee of MSPs.

Justice Committee convener Bill Aitken broke the deadlock by backing a presumption for a mandatory jail term, after four MSPs had voted in favour and four against.

However, it will still need to pass a vote of all MSPs in the Scottish Parliament, and remains opposed by the SNP, Scottish Liberal Democrats and Greens.

Labour and the Conservatives, who back a minimum sentence, have 46 and 16 MSPs respectively, while the SNP have 47, the Liberal Democrats 16, and the Greens two giving them a majority. Independent MP Margo Macdonald said she was also "minded to vote against it".

Richard Baker, justice spokesman for Scottish Labour, who placed the amendment on the Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill, said: "The public want the action proposed by Labour, the Justice Committee have voted to back the action proposed by Labour – the only sticking points are Alex Salmond and Tavish Scott.

"It's time that they woke up and looked at what is happening out on the streets of Scotland. Last year, murders using knives accounted for a record 58 per cent of all murders in Scotland, yet 70 per cent of knife criminals currently avoid jail."

John Muir, 69, has campaigned for tougher laws since his son Damian, 34, was stabbed to death in Greenock by Barry Gavin, who twice avoided prison after being caught carrying knives. "Anyone who disregards moves to toughen the sentencing laws on knife crime will be seen by the public as having victims' blood on their hands," he said.

Mr Aitken, who saw his alternative amendment for a two-year minimum sentence defeated during the committee hearing, said: "We need tougher and more honest sentencing, which will send a clear message to criminals that knife crime will not be tolerated.

"Prison serves four important functions: to deter criminals, to protect the public, to punish, and to rehabilitate. All four matter, but we need the political will to make prison work. In the SNP's soft-touch Scotland, that isn't happening."

The SNP wants to introduce a presumption that sentences of six months or less should be replaced with community punishments, while the Scottish Liberal Democrats believe the threshold should be three months.

Both parties believe that short prison sentences do not only fail to deter criminals from committing further crimes after release, but actually make it more likely that minor offenders will graduate to becoming more serious ones because of the people they associate with in prison.

Robert Brown, justice spokesman for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said: "It is hugely disappointing that the Labour and Conservative parties have voted together to pass this highly populist amendment. Custodial sentences do not deter people from carrying a knife.

"Liberal Democrats research shows that 94 per cent of those currently in prison for carrying offensive weapons have been in prison before – 60 per cent of them on offensive weapons charges."

SNP MSP Stewart Maxwell said: "Labour are totally incoherent on this important issue; only yesterday Gordon Brown published a UK election manifesto which rejected mandatory sentencing. Labour should get serious about a serious issue, instead of playing politics."