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Criminal Justice Committee 22 February 2023

22 Feb 2023 · S6 · Criminal Justice Committee

Item of business

Subordinate Legislation

Parole Board (Scotland) Rules 2022 (SSI 2022/385)

Findlay, Russell Con West Scotland Watch on SPTV

I support Jamie Greene’s motion and agree with his comments, and indeed, Katy Clark’s comments about there being a missed opportunity in relation to victim involvement in and contribution to Parole Board hearings, but I have nothing in particular to add to that. My interest lies in Suzanne’s law, which I have had an interest in for a number of years. I happen to have been a witness in the trial on the murder of Margaret Fleming, whose remains have never been recovered and whose two convicted killers have shown no signs of disclosing where they are. Such situations are appalling for families to live with: killers exercise their on-going power, which causes relentless retraumatisation of families who would desperately like to have closure. In December of last year, I became aware of a BBC news report—and other news reports—about the Scottish Government apparently bringing in Suzanne’s law. The BBC report said: “A change to Scotland’s parole rules could mean that killers are denied release if they do not say where, and how, they disposed of victim’s remains.” I was delighted because that seemed like good news, and it sounded as though what all of the families and campaigners have been calling for was coming to pass. However, when we saw the new rules, it became apparent that their content fell significantly short of the publicity that was generated by them. That is no criticism of the BBC or other media; I think that they were presented with the information in a certain way. I have been in contact with the family of Arlene Fraser, who was murdered in 1998. Her killer is in custody. Her remains have never been found, and her family understandably supports Suzanne’s law. When I saw the SSI, I pointed out to the family that what was reported about it was not the reality. I received a response back from Arlene’s sister, who said: “To be honest, I was quite disappointed.” That was a direct—and quite understated—quote. It is worth pointing out that when such headlines are generated—perhaps through a Scottish Government press release—it can give false hope to families and further retraumatise them. It might give the impression that Suzanne’s law is coming into being, when in fact it is not. I thank Jamie Greene for lodging the motion because as a result, John Watt has provided the committee with a very detailed and honest take on the situation. He said that, in essence, for failure to disclose to be “a determinative factor” in consideration of release, a change to the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 would be required. I am disappointed to hear the cabinet secretary say that he has no intent of passing Suzanne’s law by revisiting that 1993 legislation, but I look forward to working with Jamie Greene to see whether there is a way to introduce some provision that is ECHR compliant. The issue has arisen in other jurisdictions in the UK; there is Suzanne’s law in Scotland, and there are various other laws elsewhere in the UK, which have all taken the names of female victims, because in almost all these cases, the victims are female. 10:45 Jamie Greene’s motion has been fantastic in flushing out the truth of the matter, however, I am not minded to vote for it. I am not sure whether he intends to press the motion, but that is obviously up to him. We do not want to throw the baby out with the bath water, but it has been a useful exercise to find out the truth.