Senior police “embarrassed government” on human rights pledge

By Paul Thornton

SENIOR police officers ignored a Scottish Government pledge to Europe to allow suspects access to legal representation during interviews for over four years, it can be revealed.

The Scottish legal community has been rocked by a shift in policy by the Crown Office over solicitor access to people being interviewed by police.

Prosecutors told forces that they must allow access to legal advice when suspects request it – a U-turn on the previous practice, last month.

It is thought the move came amid fears that a panel of seven judges at the UK Supreme Court is set to rule that denying access is in breach of human rights laws.

But documents released under freedom of information rules reveal that the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) issued guidance going completely against a government pledge to Brussels to allow access, made in 2005.

Sat-navs criticised as Scottish speed camera fines fall

By Michael MacLeod

SCOTS drivers have put the brakes on at speed cameras, sending speeding fines plummeting by a dramatic 60 per-cent.

New government statistics show almost 50,000 motorists were punished for speeding last year compared to 114,000 in 2006.

Some experts claimed the fall shows hard-hitting safety campaigns are making their mark.

But motoring organisations believe speed trap detecting in-car satellite navigation devices are behind the reduction in fines.

Scottish police to use spy planes

By Cara Sulieman

SCOTTISH police forces could soon be using unmanned spy planes to keep tabs on citizens in a bid to crack down on crime.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles have already been trialled by Strathclyde Police who used one in rescue operations in rural Argyll.

And Scotland’s largest police force is keen to be at the forefront of the new technology, which is being looked at by all forces in the UK.

The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland has joined forces with their English counterpart to form the Unmanned Aerial Systems Steering Group, who meets regularly to discuss the use of the planes, and report to the Home Office.

Scottish Children Sex Victims Every Six Hours

By Paul Thornton

A CHILD falls victim to a sexual predator at least once every six hours in Scotland, shocking new figures have revealed.

And the number is likely to be far higher than that because most Scots police forces fail to keep records discriminating between child and adult victims of the most serious sex crimes such as rape or indecent assaults.

At least 1,592 offences against children were reported in 2009 – more than four a day.

The stats showed that innocent youngsters were subjected to rape, sexual assault and lewd and libidinous behaviour across the country as well as indecent exposure and adults who use their positions of trust to abuse them.

Call to pray for police

By Cara Sulieman

A GROUP of policeman think that they can cut crime by getting community groups to “adopt a cop” and pray for them.

The Christian Police Association are urging churches of all denominations to pray for cops all over the country – saying it will reduce crime, ease community tension and protect the boys in blue from temptation.

Harry Pearson, branch leader of Strathclyde Christian Police Alliance, said that it “may well bring tangible results”.

The initiative is part of Coact, a national scheme which aims to build bridges between Christian communities and police across Britian.

Football fans lose standing area battle

By Cara Sulieman

FOOTBALL fans have lost their battle to get the ban on standing areas at Scottish Premier League football stadiums overturned.

The Pars Supporters Trust submitted a petition to the Scottish Parliament, arguing that the all-seater rule penalised clubs who were forced to build stands for promotion to the SPL.

After hearing from various bodies, the Public Petitions Committee of the Scottish Parliament decided to close the petition meaning no reprieve for the terraces.

But the supporters are not happy, saying that the bodies consulted did not understand the argument they were putting forward.

Police interviews ‘breach of human rights’

By PAUL THORNTON

THOUSANDS of Scottish criminal cases could collapse due to a European human rights ruling over police interviews.

Scotland is one of only a few EU countries where suspects do not have the right to legal advice during interviews with authorities.

But, after a landmark ruling in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over a Turkish case, lawyers here are beginning to lodge legal bids to have evidence from interviews thrown out.

That case saw the confession of a 17-year-old Turk being retracted because he did not have a lawyer present during his police interrogation.

Article six of the human rights convention states that everyone has the right to a fair trial, including legal representation.

In November last year the ECHR decided that this applied to pre-trial investigations and upheld his appeal that a confession was inadmissible as evidence.

Since 2000 decisions made in the ECHR are binding on Scottish courts meaning the ruling could also see thousands of cases since 2000 being appealed.

It would also force police to overhaul their current system for investigation.

Anti-gay Christians distribute ‘abhorrent’ cartoon strip

By Alexander Lawrie

FURIOUS Scots have blasted an evangelical group for distributing a booklet to encourage hatred towards homosexuals.

The cartoon-strip leaflet, entitled Birds and Bees, is being handed out in cafes, churches and youth clubs in Dunfermline, Fife.

It features two gay characters called Larry and Charles who are introduced to a class full of schoolkids and are depicted throughout with demons crawling over them.

And in it homosexuals are compared to the people of the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah – cities that were destroyed by God for their inhabitant’s sins.

The chairman of a Fife-based gay support group has condemned the anonymously distributed booklet as “abhorrent”.

And a local councillor has joined the condemnation by claiming the cartoon book is “encouraging a form of hatred in the community”.

It is being handed out by a group calling themselves the American Evangelist Christian Company, and there are thought to be around 10,000 copies of the publication in circulation in and around the Fife town.

Throughout the cartoon storyline – which is obviously designed to attract children’s interest – the two homosexual characters are demonized for their lifestyle.

The schoolkids in the cartoon strip are told by a Christian classmate that “God hates homosexuality” and warns us in the Bible to stay away from it.

In the cartoon strip, the homosexual characters are accused of brainwashing the schoolchildren about their gay lifestyle.

One little boy is chastised by his teacher for using the word “queer” while one school girl regales her classmates of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The children are then told that they will be “saved” if they follow the Bible’s teachings and the school girl is quoted as saying: “Satan wants to destroy us kids. But God still says being gay is an abomination.

“If anyone tries to make you gay – stay away from them.”

Graham Whyte, chair of the Fife Free Lesbian and Gay Society believes the non-PC booklet encourages hatred towards gays.

He said: “People aren’t born hateful of other people – they are taught that. And this is a clear example of a group trying to teach small children to hate other people. I think that’s abhorrent.

“I think people pit Christianity against ordinary gay people’s values and that’s wrong. Many people are members of both communities.

“It’s certainly not healthy for children to get such a distorted unbalanced view. I look in the mirror and I don’t see a wee devil sitting at the top of my head.

“So while we can ignore a leaflet like this as irrelevant it needs to be known that this is not mainstream thinking by enlightened reasonable people.”

Councillor Liz Mogg, a former headteacher believes the offensive cartoon strip is encouraging hatred towards the local homosexual community, and believes children should be protected from reading the booklet.

She said: “I imagine any headteacher who would look at that would put it in the bim immediately.

“It’s only encouraging a form of hatred in the community.

“It’s important to prevent this getting to children in the 11-14 age group – a lot of them might not be sure of their own sexuality let alone anything else, and to have this sort of thing thrown at them makes things worse,”

“Bullies will find any reason to make someone else’s life a misery just by calling tham a name, whether it’s warranted or not.

“I think children have quite enough to deal with without the fear of eternal damnation and brimstone.”

The definition of a hate crime adopted by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland is “any crime where the perpetrators prejudice against any identifiable group of people is a factor in determining who is victimised”.

A Fife police spokesperson said: “We received no complaints about this matter and can therefore make no further comment.”