 | 'In a meandering, and often florid, 45-minute plea in mitigation, Paul Burns tried to paint his client as a sad and remorseful figure who had turned to drink because of the pressures of public life and the sorrows within his marriage. However, Watson's true character was revealed in a social inquiry report which showed he had little thought for those he might have incinerated.' Tom Gordon, Scottish Political Correspondent in the Herald, 23 rd September 2005. |  |
LAST year a young man in Aberdeen was fined £450 for assaulting a man he and his friend had just robbed. He avoided receiving a prison sentence because the social inquiry report showed he had shown remorse, given up drugs and found a job as a window cleaner.
The 16-month custodial sentence passed yesterday on Lord Watson, the Labour peer, revealed the extent to which a report by social work can affect sentencing decisions.
Watson will spend the next eight months Ð as he will only serve half the sentence in custody Ð in Saughton prison in Edinburgh where he will presumably spend much time ruminating on the consequences of his actions.
In sentencing him, Sheriff Kathrine Mackie indicated that the report presented to the court by social work staff implied a lack of remorse for his actions.
She said: "Having regard to the deliberate and dangerous nature of your conduct and the assessment by the author of the social inquiry report that you present a significant risk to reoffending and public safety, I believe a custodial sentence is the only appropriate disposal."
The tabloid newspapers are regularly littered with references to sheriffs who have, in their view, failed to give violent offenders prison sentences.
In the case of Watson, the opposite may be the case.
Legal experts say they expected him to receive a community sentence or fine based on the grounds that it was a first offence which caused limited damage.
However, the social inquiry report, based on interviews with Watson and consideration of his family life and level of contrition, seems to have tipped the balance.
As a common law offence, the sentencing tariff for fire-raising is guided by previous cases and the sentencing restrictions on the court involved.
As the case was heard in a sheriff court, the maximum custodial sentence possible was five years, unless the sheriff in question felt it necessary to pass the case up to the High Court.
"For a first time offender I would not have expected to see someone convicted of fire-raising to get a custodial sentence unless they had caused serious damage," said James Chalmers, lecturer in law at Aberdeen University.
"If you have a social inquiry report which shows a person is genuinely remorseful and has accepted responsibility for what is a first offence then I think that would provide very good reasons not to give someone a custodial sentence.
"However, it is not just a question of what you have done wrong but what good the sentence might do. Social inquiry reports are done after conviction and before sentencing, so if a person is still not willing to show remorse after that it may go badly against you."
Scotland already has one of the highest prison populations in western Europe and political pressure has focused on ways to reduce it while simultaneously cutting the country's high level of recidivism.
Many, including the justice minister, argue that handing down more short-term prison sentences will not help, but if the offender is thought to be a danger to the public and is expected to reoffend sheriffs have little option.
"Whilst there may be some perceived need to make an example of someone in this position, we need to consider what we are hoping to achieve with a custodial sentence like this particularly in light of the fact Scotland already has such a high prison population," said Lindsay Farmer, professor of Scots law at Glasgow University.
"I expected him to get a suspended sentence É but the social inquiry report must have had an impact on this."
Sheriff Mackie
SHERIFF Kathrine Mackie, 52, became a solicitor 25 years ago and was a partner with the Edinburgh law firm Gillam Mackie, with a special interest in medical negligence cases.
She was among those appointed in 2000 to fill the gap left by the abolition of temporary sheriffs.
A native of Coatbridge and an Edinburgh University arts and law graduate, she was elected in 1994 as the first female president of the 210-year-old Society of Solicitors in the Supreme Courts of Scotland. She said she felt the appointment showed that, although not easy, combining a law career with bringing up a family could be achieved by women.
She is married to an advocate and has a daughter.
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