 | 'I don't know if the sentence is in line with what a supposedly normal person would receive, but to me it seems rather light. His actions seemed to be wilful and malicious, and I would have thought 16 months for deliberate fire-raising is quite a small sentence. The likelihood is he'll end up in an open prison anyway, the kind that's been specially built for politicians who misbehave.' Richard Mosses, 23 rd September 2005. |  |
In Lord Watson's former constituency yesterday, party activists braced the rain to distribute leaflets promoting their respective candidates for the upcoming Cathcart by-election.
Talk among the electorate, though, was not of who would be their new MSP but what became of their old one. In the coffee houses and bars of Battlefield Road, Sheriff Kathrine Mackie's judgment was the main topic of conversation..
The views were far from sympathetic; indeed, some seemed positively gleeful at news of Watson's incarceration. And the consensus was that the 16-month sentence was lenient..
Richard Mosses, 32, from Langside, said: "I don't know if the sentence is in line with what a supposedly normal person would receive, but to me it seems rather light. His actions seemed to be wilful and malicious, and I would have thought 16 months for deliberate fire-raising is quite a small sentence. The likelihood is he'll end up in an open prison anyway, the kind that's been specially built for politicians who misbehave.".
Tom Hosie, a 64-year-old facilities assistant from Battlefield, said: "Watson deserves everything he gets, he's a silly bugger. He could easily have killed someone and I think he's lucky the sheriff was so lenient..
"It's right he's going to prison. At least there he won't be able to get his hands on any drink. He won't be missed here.".
Sheena O'Neill, a 19-year-old hairdresser from Cathcart, said: "You can't go around setting fire to hotels, you can't excuse that kind of thing. Drink makes people do daft things but when you nearly kill innocent people it's a different matter.".
Jim Roy, 70, a retired electronics engineer from King's Park, said: "It looked as if he lived in a little circle of power where he could do what he wanted. It's a good sentence. I'm glad he's in prison. He's a stupid man who lost the plot and he could have killed a lot of people."
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