FIVE more members of a notorious crime gang have been hit with strict court orders which will restrict their freedom even after they have been released from prison.
David Sell, 50, Anthony Woods, 44, Michael Bowman, 31, Francis Mulligan, 41, and Martyn Fitzsimmons, 37, have been handed Serious Crime Prevention Orders.
Lord Beckett yesterday imposed the orders on the five, who were part of a nine-strong group jailed for a total of 87 years earlier this week. They had admitted dealings in drugs, firearms, serious violence and dirty money.
The exact details of the SCPO sought by prosecutors were not revealed at the High Court in Glasgow – but they will last for five years against each member.
It is believed restrictions include associations they may have with certain individuals. Some are also affected if they wish to travel outside Scotland on their release from prison.
Woods will have to notify authorities within 24 hours if he wanted to go to elsewhere in the UK for work.
A number of the gang will also have certain restrictions placed on internet use and bank accounts.
Dr Nick McKerrell, lecturer in law at Glasgow Caledonian University, said the use of the prevention orders was a "little bit of Scottish legal history".
"The nine men convicted of the serious crimes this week will face restrictions on their behaviour unparalleled in society even amongst other convicted felons," he said.
"They could argue it is disproportionate and prevents the possibility of them being rehabilitated.
"However given the severity of the crimes involved, as long as the SCPOs were not for an undefined period of time it would be unlikely that such arguments would hold sway.
"These convictions seem ideally suited to the Serious Crime Prevention Orders.
"This could mark a new beginning in the use of post-jail punishment in the Scottish legal system."
Two others – Barry O’Neill, 37, and Mark Richardson, 30, – will return to court in March as the attempt to hit them with SCPOs continues.
Another two – Steven McArdle, 33, and Gerard Docherty, 42, – have already had five-year orders made against them.
SCPOs have been in place in England since 2007 but were only brought in in Scotland two years ago.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel