The first man in Scotland to be given a community payback order was back in court on Monday accused of being the first man in Scotland to breach such an order.
Serial offender Laurence Winters appeared from custody to claim he had been in hospital after suffering a heart attack instead of attending work sessions for the SNP’s flagship punishment scheme.
Winters (38), from St Catherine’s Square, Perth, has a record going back decades and has 98 convictions relating to 160 separate charges including assaults, thefts, breaches of the peace and numerous breaches of court orders.
On February 4 he was ordered to carry out 60 hours’ unpaid work under the new scheme, designed to reduce court reliance on short prison sentences. However, the court heard he failed to turn up to his induction on February 11 or to further appointments on February 14, February 21 and February 23.
His solicitor Paul Ralph said, “On February 14 he was in PRI. He says to me the documentation will confirm to me he had a heart attack. He says that documentation is in the house. He has no explanation for February 11. My instructions are to deny the breach.”
Sheriff William Summers set a hearing for March 28. On Winters’ last appearance at which he pleaded guilty to breaching the peace by behaving in a threatening and abusive manner, shouting and swearing on February 3 Sheriff Summers said short prison sentences had “failed quite spectacularly.”
He told Winters, “You have the unenviable distinction of having just about the longest record I have ever seen. Most of it, and particularly the more recent convictions, are public order offences.” He added, “He has been dealt with by short prison sentences, which I am told I cannot do now.”
On Monday he refused Winters bail, stating, “It seems to me there is a significant risk further offences will be committed.”
Under the community payback order scheme, offenders have to carry out menial tasks such as repairing vandalism or clearing litter, rather than languishing in prison for a few months. Low-level offenders work for the benefit of the community and work squads aid organisations and priority projects.
Launched by justice secretary Kenny MacAskill, opposition MSPs labelled it a “dark day for justice.”