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Scottish justice system places a higher value on Rolex watches than on raped women and children
Guest blog by @giantyellowbumblebee (Twitter)
The Gleneagles armed robbery case of two men stealing more than £500,000 worth of
luxury watches from a boutique at the five star hotel caught my attention due
to the high sentences given: totalling 29 years between 2 men; 18 years and 11
years.
A Defence lawyer on Radio Scotland said this was due to the 'high value'
of the crime and because it was 'violent in nature'. A discussion evolved with
John Beattie citing rape case sentencing of five years for a perpetrator who
raped a women who was sleeping, compared with the high sentencing given in this
armed robbery. The Judge sentencing in this case stated the criminals carried
out 'an act of serious premeditated criminality'.
A case for human rights
At Rape Crisis Scotland we are sometimes in the position of being critical of the approach of some lawyers, specifically in relation to the cross examination of rape complainers in court. In the past months however we have been impressed by the approach of a number of lawyers to what we consider to be a significant human rights issue.
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