SCOTTISH
POLICE FEDERATION
5 Woodside Place, Glasgow, G3 7QF
MEDIA
RELEASE
The Scottish Police Federation represents all police officers in the
ranks of chief inspector and below, about 16,000 people, over 98%
of all police officers in Scotland.
To:
Date:
Subject: |
Friday
23 September 2005
Offences
on bail |
Mr Hugh Little,
Deputy General Secretary of the Federation said,
“We have been
hugely concerned about offences committed on bail for many years and
these figures strongly indicate that things are getting worse. The
Minister for Justice has promised reform and improvements in the near
future and we hope that really effective change will be implemented.
Police officers
work particularly hard to arrest offenders and protect the public
and it can be very frustrating when the courts simply release them
on bail and further crimes are committed.
Committing an
offence while on bail is tantamount to contempt of the court but that
is rarely reflected in sentences. In fact last year, we were made
that less than half of the 9,000 people who committed offences on
bail received any extra punishment. Our system of bail has been described
over the years as a ‘scandal' and a ‘farce' and there is no doubt
that the whole scheme has fallen into disrepute .”
