Tory leader uses case of Orcadian man to highlight concerns over bail

Released – 22nd September 2005

Scottish Conservative Leader David McLetchie has used the case of Orcadian Robert Stanger to highlight concerns over the granting of bail in Scotland.

Speaking at First Minister’s Question Time, Mr McLetchie accused Jack McConnell of tinkering around the edges of the problem and said urgent action was required.

David McLetchie said “The First Minister will be aware of the conviction last week of a man who committed two rapes in Orkney. The second of these occurred while the accused was out on bail and after a condition banning him from staying in Orkney was overturned on the grounds that it breached his human rights leaving him free to rape again.

“The First Minister has talked about toughening up the granting of bail and imposing more conditions on those who are granted bail. But can he guarantee that his new conditions will not suffer the same fate and also fall foul of ECHR?

“This is a problem that requires urgent action. The Association of Scottish Police Superintendents has said that people out on bail commit 150 crimes every day in Scotland – that’s 55,000 a year. That is an appalling statistic and the response of imposing conditions such as tagging or curfews is inadequate.

“The only effective way to protect the public is to keep those charged with serious crimes in jail. We should return to the system where there is a presumption against bail for certain categories of crime such as murder and where the accused has a previous conviction for other serious crimes such as rape.

“The truth is that 5 years ago our law on bail was brought into line with ECHR and this is stopping us from denying bail to certain categories of accused persons. Isn’t it about time the First Minister stopped tinkering around the edges and got to the heart of the matter which requires a review of the Human Rights Act?”