Prison drug sentence delay

A SHERIFF has called for up-to-date background reports on a woman who smuggled drugs into prison.

Michelle MacDonald was originally due to be sentenced nine months ago. But delays at Livingston Sheriff Court meant that social work background reports no longer reflected her situation accurately.

Defence lawyer Andy Aitken said she now had a strong support network which was helping her with issues in her life.

MacDonald, 23, of Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, appeared at Livingston Sheriff Court yesterday. She earlier pleaded guilty to entering Addiewell Prison in West Lothian as a visitor on October 29 last year and passing cannabis resin to a prisoner there.

Deferring sentence, Sheriff Douglas Kinloch said: “This case has dragged on for far longer than is desirable. But I feel I don’t have sufficient information to decide the appropriate sentence, so I’m prepared to continue this again.”

MacDonald will now be 
sentenced in August.