Justice secretary has an uphill struggle over short sentences

Published on Friday 3 July 2009 22:20

THE political battle over the use of short prison sentences has become one of the most bitterly contested issues since the SNP took power in 2007.

When he took office, justice secretary Kenny MacAskill was faced with overcrowded jails and a need to either create more space or find alternatives to locking criminals up.

However, he already held the view that prisons "were a scoosh". And he argued that community sentences were far more effective than prison terms of six months or less.

Better to pay their debt "with the sweat of their brow", he claimed.

But this policy has become his most controversial and has led to accusations of Scotland being turned into a "soft touch society" not just from the hardliners among the Conservatives but also Labour.

The Tories and Labour have used it as a benchmark for who can have tougher policies, making the issue even more politically charged.

In addition the whole problem has become wrapped up in another high-profile campaign to make sure people convicted of knife crimes are sent to jail.

Many criminals with knife crime convictions have in the past escaped prison. However, hundreds more of them have received sentences of six months or less and would not, under Mr MacAskill's strictures, end up behind bars.

And it also appears the justice secretary has also lost the battle in cabinet because he has failed to win the extra funding he needs to pay for more effective community sentences.