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Cornton Vale visit
30/07/2009
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill today visited HMP Cornton Vale to hear about the problems faced in dealing with women offenders given short sentences.
Speaking after his visit, Mr MacAskill said:
"Two-thirds of the women at Cornton Vale are serving sentences of six months or less, and these women have typically been jailed for low level offences. It is important that people who break the law - men and women - are punished, and equally important that they are punished appropriately.
"As part of our justice regime, the underlying causes of these women's often repeat offending - be it substance abuse, domestic abuse or mental health problems - must be properly addressed.
"The statistics speak for themselves - four out of five women going to Cornton Vale have a mental health problem and seven out of ten have a disclosed history of abuse or trauma.
"Having to cope with the churn caused by very short sentences and rising prisoner numbers - at a time when recorded crime rates are dropping - prevents the Scottish Prison Service from investing resources into rehabilitation schemes. So while the staff at Cornton Vale are doing a fantastic job, a short-term prison environment is not always conducive to identifying root problems and dealing with them effectively.
"Prison is the right place for serious criminals, and serious criminals - men and women - deserve to be sent to prison for a long time. But there are better ways of dealing with less serious offending. We need other ways to tackle persistent reoffending that gives people the chance to turn their lives around.
"Nobody is saying that these women should be allowed off scot-free. What I am saying is that there is a far better chance of dealing with their offending and helping them and their communities if these women carry out appropriate community penalties."