Hansard

That brings us to petition PE1971, which calls for robust action to stop motorcycle theft. The petition, which was lodged by Kenneth Clayton on behalf of the Motorcycle Action Group, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to increase the actions available to prevent and reduce motorcycle theft by empowering the police to pursue and tactically engage thieves and by reviewing sentencing policy to allow the courts to implement tougher punishment for those who are convicted of motorcycle theft, including the use of mandatory custodial sentences for those who carry weapons or groups who threaten individuals with violence. We last considered this petition at our meeting on 3 May 2023, when we agreed to write the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. We have now received a response, which provides information on the outcome of the cases that are noted in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Office’s submission to the committee. The response also states that the SCTS is not aware of any evidence that cases involving the theft of a motorcycle are taking any longer to prosecute through the courts than other types of offence. In fact, we got a quite detailed schedule by way of a response. In the light of that, do colleagues have any suggestions as to how we might proceed?