POLICE officers have launched a scathing attack on Scotland’s prosecution service, accusing it of clogging the courts to hit deadlines, letting down victims, wasting officers’ time and being out of its depth in dealing with new crime-fighting technology.

The Scottish Police Federation (SPF), which represents the country’s 17,000 rank and file officers, said the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) needs to significantly “up its game” in the way it deals with both victims and witnesses.

It claimed bad decisions were causing “farcical levels of disturbance and inconvenience” in courts.

The Faculty of Advocates also questioned whether the COPFS had sufficient “resources and expertise” to prosecute complex cases involving health and safety and corporate crime effectively, and criticised its “inappropriate” use of a premium rate 0844 phone line.

In new evidence to Holyrood’s Justice Committee, which is holding an inquiry into the COPFS, SPF general secretary Calum Steele set out a series of problems with the service, which came under the control of new Lord Advocate James Wolffe in June.

Mr Steele said his members felt Crown Office staff were “dedicated, professional and incredibly hard working”, but the service as a whole was “overwhelmed with work”, and as a result fiscals were “often unprepared”.

For the most serious and complex cases, he said liaison between the police and prosecutors was “in most cases second to none”.

However for the bulk of cases, the experience of police officers was “less positive” and relationships between the force and the Crown were “disjointed”.

In a paper to next Tuesday’s meeting of the committee, he writes: “The COPFS needs to significantly ‘up its game’ in dealing with victims and witnesses.

“This is especially true when it comes to court, where what can only be described as farcical levels of disturbance and inconvenience are experienced.

“We appreciate court scheduling is not directly in the hands of the COPFS but the volume of cases that can be laid down for a particular court hearing are by any measure unrealistic.

“It appears to the SPF that large numbers of cases are called, not because there is any prospect of the case being heard, but to ensure timescales can be adhered to.”

He said the frequency with which cases were adjourned or abandoned was “far too high” and often saw “victims lose confidence in the justice system and witnesses increasingly frustrated at having to waste days lolling around.”

There was a particular problem with COPFS proceeding with domestic violence cases despite knowing “from the outset that there is not a sufficiency of evidence to secure a conviction”.

With cybercrime increasingly important, Mr Steele said the Federation asked specialist officers working with new technology about Crown Office effectiveness: “Their comments are unequivocal – the COPFS does not have the skill set to carry out its role effectively.”

Separately, the Faculty of Advocates blamed a lack of resources within COPFS for much of its problems, including a “general deterioration” in the standard of pre-indictment preparation in non-homicide and non-sexual offence cases.

It said the new Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC and his team should get time and resources to tackle the problems, but also needed to “change the culture” of the service to build public confidence.

Senior police officers were markedly more positive, with Chief Superintendent Gordon Crossan, President of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, saying economic pressures were “adversely affecting COPFS and many of their partners, including Police Scotland”, but this had “led to a more collaborative approach towards justice”.

However he added: “There is no doubt that service delivery can be improved.”

Tory justice spokesman Douglas Ross: “This is a damning indictment on the Crown Office.

“Police officers are already stretched without having time wasted by having to show up to court for cases that don’t stand a chance of being heard that day.

“When families and victims go through needless disruption, it’s clear something needs to be done to fix the current system.”