Lucy Adams Chief Reporter Scotland's top prosecutor yesterday urged judges to increase minimum jail terms on murderers and impose "whole life" sentences on the worst offenders for the first time in Scotland.
Scotland's top prosecutor yesterday urged judges to increase minimum jail terms on murderers and impose "whole life" sentences on the worst offenders for the first time in Scotland.
Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini reopened the debate over whether life should mean life in a plea at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh during two cases where the Crown is seeking longer sentences. She also highlighted the need for the judiciary to recognise Scotland's "endemic knife culture".
Her views attracted political support in some quarters but some lawyers saw Mrs Angiolini's intervention as "political interference" in the independence of judges.
It came on the same day that Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill confirmed plans which would effectively ban prison sentences of six months or less unless sheriffs state why they are using them, and just days after the association for high court judges and sheriffs accused the Scottish Government of challenging their independence through proposals for a formal sentencing guidelines council.
Ms Angiolini's contention emerged as she put the Crown case in the two murder appeals in which it claims the minimum term, known as a punishment part of a life sentence which a prisoner must serve before becoming eligible to seek parole, was too low. However, Donald Findlay, QC, told the court the Scottish criminal system placed its trust in the trial judge to deal with a case, subject to possible review by the appeal court.
He said: "What the Crown are seeking to do, I would wish to argue, is to politicise that and introduce a political element that this court should not be prepared to allow."
Mr Findlay argued that there were "fundamental constitutional issues" in what the Crown was seeking to do. "This is in effect political interference and I will be arguing it is political interference," he said.
Ms Angiolini replied: "Quite frankly, I find that an outrageous suggestion that the Lord Advocate, as head of an independent prosecution service, should attempt to influence the court in a political fashion." She said the Crown was asking the appeal court to consider providing guidance of a general nature to trial judges dealing with sentencing in murder cases, and argued it would be of considerable assistance and provide "greater clarity in sentencing".
An appeal in 2002 of former soldier Andrew Walker formed the precedent for setting the length of the "punishment part". Walker was told he would serve at least 27 years for a triple killing during a payroll robbery.
Ms Angiolini said Walker's appeal was also seen as imposing 30 years as the maximum period for a murderer to serve before he can be eligible to seek release on parole in the worst cases. Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, received a minimum term of 27 years.
The Lord Advocate told the court: "The Crown's submission is the range of sentences considered to be appropriate should be uplifted and raised beyond the perceived 30-year maximum."
She said there were specific features here that the court may wish to consider and raised the issue of "the endemic nature of knife crime in Scotland".
The Lord Advocate said the Crown also submitted that it was competent for the court to consider the application of punishments in highly exceptional murder cases that would be similar to the "whole life" term imposed in England, where a convicted killer is never freed.
Her views were supported by Bill Aitken, the Tory justice spokesman, who suggested there were cases in which the accused should be given different types of discount for pleading guilty, depending on the circumstances.
However, John Scott, chairman of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: "It is impossible for Ms Angiolini to deny that there is a political aspect to this. She is a Scottish minister and is clearly aware of what the government said about homicide statistics yesterday."
