Tory leader calls for crime victims to have right to attend parole hearings

Victims of crime in Scotland should be allowed to attend parole board hearings related to their case, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has said.

She suggested such a move could help to “rebalance the justice system so it starts to respect the needs and wishes of victims more''.

Ms Davidson made the plea in the wake of the case where a father of three was stabbed to death by an attacker in breach of his home detention curfew.

James Wright was “unlawfully at large'' when he killed Craig McClelland, of Foxbar, Paisley, Renfrewshire, in July last year.

Justice Secretary Michael Matheson told MSPs on Tuesday he had asked police and prison inspectors to examine the case to see if improvements could be made when assessing if prisoners are suitable for release with such a curfew, monitored by electronic tagging.

However, Ms Davidson called for further action, claiming that a review already going on into Scotland's parole board system was “too limited''.

Writing in the Scotsman, she said: “Privately, lawyers engaged in the Scottish Parole Board acknowledge that the system needs to be made more transparent. It is time for the SNP government to get on with it.

“To take one example, in many other jurisdictions, victims are able to attend parole hearings so their voices are heard when decisions are being made.

“Yet in Scotland, they cannot. The best they can hope for is that parole board members take the time to interview them as part of their decision. It's not enough, and it needs to change.''

She added: “Doesn't the victim of a crime deserve to know why the parole board has chosen to release somebody who attacked them or sexually abused them? I think they do.'