PLANS to expand the use of electronic tagging for prisoners must be put on hold in the wake of the brutal stabbing of a father of three, Ruth Davidson has insisted.
The Scottish Conservative leader made the demand as it emerged dozens of criminals released from jail on home curfews are currently “unlawfully at large” after breaching their conditions.
James Wright, 25, murdered Craig McClelland last year despite having breached his home detention curfew six months earlier, for which he was never apprehended. He had 16 previous convictions, including two for knife crimes.
Ms Davidson said it was “simply wrong” Wright had been free to carry out the killing, and insisted it was “unacceptable” data was not available detailing how many criminals on home curfews have committed offences while out on release.
She said: “The only time the public ever find out is when someone ends up in court, like the appalling case we saw this week.
“The SNP government is currently proposing to move to a system that empties jails, and becomes even more dependent on tagging.
“These plans must be put on hold until the public can be reassured the system actually works. It’s time for the Scottish justice system to put victims first, and ensure horrendous cases like that of James Wright cannot be repeated.”
She added: "Scotland's justice system is tilted far too much in favour of those convicted of crime and too often turns a deaf ear to the victims of those crimes.”
Ms Davidson said the Management of Offenders Bill, which was introduced to Holyrood in February and includes plans to extend the tagging of criminals, should be put on hold while the circumstances around Mr McClelland's death are reviewed.
Justice Secretary Michael Matheson has already launched two probes in the wake of the tragic killing – one looking at how prisoners are assessed for release under home curfews, and one looking at how police investigate breaches.
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Nicola Sturgeon said 21,000 prisoners had been released on a home detention curfew since they were introduced in 2006.
Of these, around 60 are currently unlawfully at large – with prison bosses admitting some of the offenders may have been evading police for months or even years.
Around 300 people are on home curfews at any one time, and around 20 per cent of prisoners are recalled due to a breach of their conditions.
Ms Sturgeon said that while the death of Mr McClelland was an "appalling case", it did not necessarily mean that "the whole system is not working".
Expressing her “deepest sympathies” to Mr McClelland’s family and friends, she said: "I am not and never would try to defend what happened in this case. But cases like this, appalling though they are – and this case is absolutely appalling – do not necessarily mean that the whole system is not working.
"Something went badly wrong in this case. It is important we look carefully at that and if there are wider lessons to be learned, we learn those wider lessons."
She added: "More generally it is not the case that our justice system is tilted towards criminals not victims.
"Scotland has one of the highest prison populations anywhere in western Europe right now, part of the problem is we know prison is not the most effective sentence in terms of reducing reoffending for some of those who commit offences."
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