Sir, I have great concern surrounding the apparent automatic sentencing of people to imprisonment for “perverting the course of justice”, be they politicians or others.
My fundamental belief is that imprisonment should be applied exclusively to situations where it is absolutely clear that the physical safety of society could be compromised by the continued liberty of the guilty parties.
Cheating and lying at length about speeding points and the like does not fall into this category.
Perverting the course of justice is indeed a serious offence and must never go unpunished; otherwise our legal system would be undermined. However, the punishment meted out must still be commensurate with the situation and “fit the crime”.
Were the underlying criminal offence to be related to murder or of similar magnitude, then these known circumstances would clearly need to be taken into account when sentencing.
A danger to society could well exist in such cases and a custodial sentence warranted.
The repeated telling of lies about a motoring offence is more of a morality issue and, where people in public office are involved; perhaps the punishment should be greater as there is a serious a breach of trust involved here too. Financial penalties or other options should still be considered.
It is not so long ago I noted that a judge had imprisoned a young, impoverished single mother for the theft of food. This was clearly a case where her incarceration created even more human misery, instead of providing any useful outcome. Now that we are well into the 21st century, it is an imperative that a sensible relationship is reached between crime and punishment. Some of our thinking seems to be stuck in the 19th century.
I sense that politicians may have interfered rather too much here already and that our judges have had much of their discretion removed. Time for a rethink but not too much time please!
David J Gardner. 7 Croft Road, Auchterarder.
Sad to see thereduction in museum times
Sir, In common with many others in the town and more widely in Angus, Montrose Natural History and Antiquarian Society deplores the proposed reduction in opening times at Montrose Museum, and other museums in Angus.
As the society which founded Montrose Museum in 1843 and subsequently donated the building to Angus Council, we are sad to see any reduction in its availability.
This must be damaging not only to the tourist industry on which the town greatly relies, but also to the local people.
At a recent meeting there was 100% support for a request to Angus Council to reconsider this ill-timed proposal. The financial savings would seem to be negligible and the disruption to staff considerable.
The council re-organisation starting in April might be a more appropriate time to reassess museum opening times.
Duncan Macdonald. Chairman, Montrose Natural History and Antiquarian Society, 42 Renny Crescent, Montrose.
20mph just doesn’t work
Sir, The implementation of 20mph zones at various locations throughout the region is highly commendable particularly those that have been the result of vigorous campaigning by local residents in sensitive areas.
Whilst this is undoubtedly a step in the right direction it would be positively naive to think that vehicles will now transit the restricted section at a maximum speed of 20mph.
This simply will not happen and it is my contention that motorists just will not travel at 20mph anywhere, ever.
Try driving at 20mph in a restricted area and you will have a vehicle tagged to your rear bumper in seconds. The only real positive outcome is that it gives authority to take legal action against those who have broken the limit.
It is high time that this blatant disregard for speed limits is dealt with in a more concentrated manner. All easier said than done but it would seem feasible to set up a separate entity to deal with this issue on a self-funding basis.
It should also be highlighted that a speed limit is not the speed you should travel at it is the maximum speed that you are permitted to do and, in certain conditions, even this can be excessive. A recent survey at St. Michael’s junction in Fife revealed that some 86% of motorists were breaking the 30mph limit.
Roy R. Russell. 1c Smithy Road, Balmullo.
Old problem would remain
Sir, I am interested in the idea put forward by Gordon Wilson that an independent Scotland should join the European Free Trade Association rather than the European Union. He has always presented a more enlightened picture of our future country than the present regime.
However the old problem of the nuclear submarine base still remains. If Scotland manages to stay in NATO, she will have to agree to retaining them. If she does not agree, and she is not in the EU either, NATO would probably continue to occupy the site regardless of Scottish public opinion, sending in a task force for just such an operation.
Both UK Border control and the EU frontier would stretch from Gretna to just north of Berwick and any trading interests we might have had with forming business links with China, would, because of the West’s concern about Chinese activities in Africa, be strongly extinguished.
Frank D Bowles. 37 Albany Terrace, Dundee.