By Steve Bargeton, political editor

FIRST MINISTER Jack McConnell pledged yesterday that changes in sentencing policy will ensure that those who commit “evil crimes” will get the punishment they deserve.

Speaking as controversy raged over the five-year jail term imposed on a man who raped a baby girl, he said the public must have confidence in the sentences handed down by the courts.

The Lord Advocate Colin Boyd has asked for a report on whether the sentence passed on James Taylor (43) at the High Court in Dunfermline this week was “unduly lenient.”

At his first major Press conference to mark the new parliamentary session, Mr McConnell faced questions about the sentence.

He said he could not comment on individual cases and that sentencing was a matter for judges, but made it clear that politicians had a duty to reflect public concern over perceived leniency and inconsistency in sentencing.

Making sure the punishment fits the crime was something he was prepared to tackle.

“Where evil crimes have been committed it is vital that the sentence not only acts to help rehabilitation, but that it also fits the crime and imposes a punishment on the person that deters others,” he said.

This would be achieved by a new Sentencing Commission which will study bail, remission, and “the consistency and applicability” of sentences.

“That sentencing commission is a central part of our drive to tackle crime in Scotland,” said Mr McConnell.

“We must get the sentences right, and the sentences must fit the crimes, otherwise the court system will not have the confidence of ordinary people.”

The First Minister said politicians should not try to interfere with the sentences handed down by judges, but that judges should have clear guidelines.

“What I want to make sure is that where a judge is making that assessment, there is a sentencing guideline in place that gives him a clear indication of what the public and the government, who are responsible for making the laws, expect—particularly where those crimes are as evil and serious as some of those reported over recent weeks,” he said.

During a confident and polished performance at his official Edinburgh residence Bute House, Mr McConnell detailed his administration’s legislative programme between now and Christmas.

On the agenda are new Bills for court reform, changes to the system of educational special needs, nature conservation measures, local government changes, and anti-social behaviour legislation. He said that over the summer he and his ministers had toured Scotland extensively and listened to the concerns of the public.

These were, he said, law and order, the economy, the health service, transport and ridding the country of “the twin evils” of sectarianism and racism.

“That is what people right across Scotland told my ministers and I again and again during the summer months. We have listened to their concerns and it is our duty to act on them,” he said.

“We will deliver the radical changes the people of Scotland have told us they support. It won’t always be easy and some things will take time, but we will not allow anything to stand in our way as we push forward with the changes the public supports and Scotland needs.

“And as we succeed we will show that the political process, and devolution, is a force for good for all our people.”