MacAskill in firing line over escape by inmate

Published on Saturday 23 May 2009 18:59

JUSTICE secretary Kenny MacAskill was last night facing fresh questions over the "perverse and dangerous" decision that led to a convicted armed robber escaping from an open prison.

Opposition parties weighed into MacAskill as Brian "The Hawk" Martin remained at large after absconding from Castle Huntly prison last week.

The escape of Martin, once dubbed Britain's most dangerous man, has led to vociferous criticism of MacAskill, who is being targeted as a weak link in Alex Salmond's Cabinet. But last night his future looked safe as the threat of a parliamentary vote of no confidence receded.

"Alex Salmond will not be dictated to by the opposition," an SNP spokesman said last night. "The First Minister has the utmost confidence in the justice secretary."

But last night it emerged that Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker is tabling a number of parliamentary questions over the decision to transfer Martin to Castle Huntly, near Dundee, three years into his ten-year sentence for firearms offences. Martin, 51, disappeared on Monday after spending less than a month in the low-security prison.

Baker said: "Given the known nature of prisoner Martin, we need to establish how and when it was decided that Martin was fit to be introduced to an open prison environment. Also, we need to find out who authorised the move and if advice on the matter was given to Kenny MacAskill or other ministers."

Baker made his attack two days after Labour leader Iain Gray raised the issue at First Minister's Questions.

MacAskill's plans to replace six-month prison terms with community sentences have angered Labour and the Tories.

Tory justice spokesman Bill Aitken said today: "Kenny MacAskill's primary duty is to protect the public and make Scotland's streets safer. He is failing miserably in that task."

A spokesman for MacAskill said: "The priority is apprehending Brian Martin.

"No-one disputes that in any system there will be failures of assessment, as has happened here, and there will be an investigation."