MCCOURT APPEAL: GREEN MSP CALLS FOR SENTENCING REVIEW
Responding to today's Court of Appeal verdict on the Gary McCourt case, the Greens want to see how the sentencing guidelines might be changed to reflect the widespread anger at the leniency of his sentence.
Alison Johnstone, Lothian's Green MSP said:
“Today’s deeply worrying judgement only reinforces the feeling that our justice system is not on the side of the most vulnerable on our roads. There is widespread agreement that a man who has killed two cyclists is being let off lightly, and at the very least should receive a lifetime driving ban.
"I welcome the court’s rebuke to the sheriff on his ill-judged comments on helmet use but this is not enough. If this light sentence is, as the court maintains, within the normal range available to the sheriff then I want to see what more can be done to review the sentencing guidelines for offences of this severity.”