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News Review Thursday 29 September
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Ashley Baird: WHY I AM BACKING MARGARET
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Rose is only thorn in Al Gore’s side at Climate Change Conference in Edinburgh
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Watch: Scottish Conservative Leadership Contender Margaret Mitchell on Newsnight Scotland
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Scots cancer sufferers should not be in a worse position than rest of the UK
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Davidson calls for sentencing changes
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Scottish Conservative Leadership contender, Ruth Davidson MSP, today called for stiffer sentences for those committing crimes under the influence of drink and drugs.
Commenting, Ruth said: “Being under the influence if drink or drugs should never be an excuse for committing crime.
“Last year, being drunk stopped being a mitigating factor in crime – but this change does not go far enough. It should be an aggravating factor that is reflected in sentencing.
“People who lose control through drink and drug use before committing a crime have made an active choice to affect their own behaviour and judgement. They have chosen to affect the control they have over their own actions. Society has had to pay for the crimes they have committed while under the influence. I believe that such pre-meditation should be recognised at the point of punishment. There are times when being drunk or on drugs should make the sentence stiffer, not softer.”
Law & Order is the elephant in the room.
For example, 25% of class ‘A’ drug dealers DON’T get a custodial sentence. While I agree with Ruth in principle, in practice – in the real world – it is a different matter.
There just isn’t enough prison places, end of.