Scotland - Getting tough on petty crime

Let's hope so.

I'm no fan of on the spot fines though. My main reason is it lets the police become judge and jury. Not only can this have an adverse effect on the person arrested, they may be innocent, but it can have an adverse effect on the victim.

Last weekend a friend of mine had his car vandalized. The offender was caught on CCTV camera and was seen to enter his hotel opposite where the car was parked. The police were dispatched, the man confessed and was fined 40 pounds on the spot, which he duly paid. That's it, caught, prosecuted on the spot, fine paid - case closed.

But hang on a minute. What about the victim's car? Who pays for that? The police say that as far as the criminal aspect goes, the case is closed - he paid his fine. They told the victim he would have to use his own funds to persue the vandal through the civil courts in order to recover damages. Had this gone to criminal court, the vandal would have been made to pay by the courts at no cost to the victim.

The result is the police, courts and criminal have all saved time but the victim has not been compensated for the damage to his vechicle. Further, he will have to spend his time and money to persue the criminal! To make matters worse, in this case the crime was committed here in Scotland and the criminal lives in England. Good luck with that.