Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee 19 March 2025
We will have data from elsewhere in the UK, but I note the cabinet secretary’s point that such an offender can be sentenced “up to life imprisonment”. I am not clear, based on the data that we have for Scotland, whether the High Court has dealt with such cases, and ultimately it is only the High Court that can sentence someone up to life imprisonment. I do not know, but I suspect that many of these offences are going to the sheriff court, which would mean up to five years’ imprisonment. That is significantly different from the suggestion that the cabinet secretary has made.
Therefore, I wonder whether we can attempt to find out where these offences are going and how many there are in Scotland. I appreciate that it will be under common law, but it is possible that, with work, we can find out some of the statistics. It would at least clarify the point about life imprisonment.