NICOLA Sturgeon has said she will keep an open mind about reconsidering measures to keep people in Scotland safe from dangerous criminals.
She was asked at First Minister’s Questions yesterday by Scottish Tory MSP Liam Kerr if she would consider giving judges the option to put criminals in prison for the rest of their lives.
It comes after a multi-agency report concluded there were no warning signs that convicted murderer Robbie McIntosh would carry out an attack on a woman in Dundee while on home leave.
McIntosh, 32, assaulted Linda McDonald with a dumbbell in Templeton Woods in August 2017 as he was being prepared for possible release on parole.
He had been jailed for life in 2002 for stabbing a dog-walker to death when he was 15 years old.
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The review said he had not demonstrated any “violent behaviours or attitudes” that would have suggested an attack was imminent or could have been predicted.
It said there were flaws within the balance of information shared to assess risk, however, particularly from the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to ministers when seeking approval for home leave.
Sturgeon said to the chamber: “Can I first of all acknowledge the bravery of Mrs McDonald in this case and I would extend again my deepest sympathy to her and of course to the family of Robbie McIntosh’s first victim.
“The significant case review here was a very important exercise, it found that the attack on Mrs McDonald couldn’t have been predicted, that Robbie McIntosh alone was responsible for that.
“Nevertheless, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Prisons Service (SPS) are committed to learning from all of the findings of the report and will build on actions we’re already taking.”
The First Minister said the SPS had already implemented improvements to their risk assessment and progression processes, as well as delivering new training.
She also revealed to MSPs that McDonald had written to her over the issue of whole-life sentences.
“I have said to her that I will never close my mind to any suggestions that are about keeping the people of Scotland safe,” Sturgeon said.
“However, as I pointed out to the member [Kerr] before and to others in this chamber, it is possible for a judge, if a judge considers it appropriate, to impose a punishment part of a sentence that extends beyond the natural life of a prisoner.
“That indeed happened in the World’s End case.
“It’s also the case that when a punishment part of a sentence expires, it is for the parole boards to decide whether it is safe to release somebody from prison.
“So these are the arrangements in place, but in the interests of victims of crime like Mrs McDonald who has shown exceptional bravery in this, the Scottish Government will always consider what more can be done to make sure that we are keeping people across Scotland safe.”
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