Early Release - Scotland Special

Three of Kriss Donald's murderers were sentenced today.

Mr Stewart revealed that all three had criminal records - including serious violence in the case of Huddersfield-born father-of-two Imran Shahid.

He was jailed for four-and-a-half years at the High Court in Glasgow in May 1995 for serious assault and was sentenced to 30 months in February 2003 for assault to danger of life and dangerous driving.

Mushtaq's record, mostly for road traffic offences, also includes assaults.

Zeeshan Shahid has served an 18-month sentence for culpable and reckless conduct and reckless damage.

So Imran Shahid was sentenced to 30 months in February 2003. Unbelievably he was released in December 2003 - just eight months into his 'thirty-month' sentence. Is the Scottish system even less sane than the English ? It's not as if he had no previous - he'd been given 'four and a half years' in 1995. What made them think he'd be suitable for release after a QUARTER of his sentence ?

Less than three months later he was driving his mates around Glasgow, looking for a white victim "to cut them up and take out their eyes". If he'd served his time Kriss Donald would be alive today.



It's been a cracking week for Scotland's Criminal Justice System.

Jack Roy was just 15 when he raped and stabbed Janet Maddocks before throwing her body off a train. He's an old man of 37 now, obviously no threat to anyone. Let him out on licence. Blimey - he's done a runner from his 'close supervision' !



Difficult one, this. You've got Vasilica Potolinca, an illegal Romanian immigrant who's been charged with rape. He's been on remand for a whole two weeks. Surely we can trust him to turn up for his trial of we release him on bail ? Well I never - he's legged it !



Or how about this - "Inmate hid heroin in prison cell".

British understatement is not dead. 53 grams of the stuff, worth a fair bit on the street and a lot more inside.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how prison officers also found steroids, electronic scales, syringes and mobile phones in Ian McLaughlan's cell.

Sounds like a cushy little number - literally a captive market to sell to.

Mr McLaughlan's home, Castle Huntly, seems a bit of a comedy prison. It was also host to Alan Wright, who broke out at night to rob a nearby house before returning to his cell. He said he needed the money 'to pay drug debts'.

To Ian McLaughlan ?