Category Archives: Crime

Time running out to save courts

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Time is running out to save local courts across the country, including here in the Kingdom, as the Scottish Government and the Scottish Court Service consultation on ‘shaping Scotland’s court services’ draws to a close.

It is important that the Scottish Court Service listens to the views of local communities during this consultation period and I urge residents of the Kingdom to make their voices heard and respond before time runs out.

The consultation proposes the movement of jury trials away from Kirkcaldy, the closure of the Kirkcaldy Justice of the Peace building and the closure of Cupar Sheriff Court. Last week I visited Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court to see first hand the facilities on offer for jury trials and I plan to visit Dunfermline in the near future.

These changes will see justice no longer delivered locally and could result in an increase in delays as courts face unintended consequences and pressures. Trials can already be a stressful ordeal for any victims and witnesses and any delays will only add to that.

This is despite figures I obtained from the Scottish Court Service which showed that the Sheriff court in Kirkcaldy has three times as many jury trails as Dunfermline, where the jury trials would be moved to, and sits for almost double the amount of days.

The potential closures are on the back of the Scottish Government’s draft budget which sees the Scottish Court Service issued with a £10.9 million budget cut over the next two years.

What we are seeing is SNP cuts sending the court service into disarray, courts are closing, trials are being moved, the potential for delays are increasing and now defence lawyers are taking industrial action all due to changes imposed by the Scottish Government.

It is important that local voices are heard during this consultation and I would urge you to make a submission and help save our courts.

 

 

 

Claire calls for action over Proxy Purchasing

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Last week in the Scottish Parliament I lodged a question for General Questions on Proxy Purchasing, which is the purchasing of alcohol by someone over the age of 18 on behalf of someone underage.

I asked the question after meeting with local organisation Clued Up in my office in Kirkcaldy, who highlighted their concerns that proxy purchasing is still a problem in Fife.

I asked the Justice Secretary how many convictions there had been in Fife since 2009 for proxy purchasing with Kenny MacAskill answering that there had been 22 in total in the Fife Police Area out of a total of 301 across Scotland.

I have concerns  that the conviction rate seen across Fife does not reflect the true extent of the problem and proxy purchasing remains a major factor in underage drinking.

Bottle marking has been piloted in Fife and is now being tried in Dundee and I would ask the Cabinet Secretary to look again at including that as part of a package to combat the problem.

I have been highlighting the concerns around proxy purchasing since I was first elected and the Scottish Government must accept that it is a problem and a challenge for all parties to address.

Unpaid Fines Unacceptable Says Claire Baker MSP

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As figures released from the Scottish Courts Service show that more than 46,000 fines have been classed as ‘No Payment Received’ Claire Baker MSP has voiced her concerns that people are getting away ‘scot-free.’

Nationally one third of fines imposed by the police or courts are not being paid with arrears for court fines totalling £6.5 million over the 12 month period between July 2011 and July 2012.

Locally of the fines imposed by the Sheriff Court in Kirkcaldy 12% have made no payment at all, putting Kirkcaldy 3rd in the region behind Dunfermline (13%) and Alloa (18%). All three regions come in over the average for Tayside Central and Fife which stands at 11% for non-payments. 26% are in arrears with their payments, which is again above the regions average of 23% and second only to Stirling (28%).

With regards to justice of the peace payments Kirkcaldy is second in the region for both payments in arrears (15%) and non-payments (13%) against a region average of 11% and 10% respectively.

Commenting on the figures Scottish Labour MSP Claire Baker said:

“These figures are simply unacceptable; nobody should be able to get away scot-free from fines imposed by Scottish courts.

“Payment schemes are available for those who are struggling to pay, but it is unacceptable that there are those who are not paying a single penny towards their fines and this money is being lost from the public purse. Non-payment of fines is unfair on the law abiding people of Kirkcaldy who are working hard and fairly to ensure that they don’t fall behind with their own bills.

“What these figures show is that there is an unacceptable percentage of people ignoring court fines in Fife the SNP Government must ensure that any fines imposed by any court are fully enforceable and collectable.”