shirleymckie.myfastforum.org

scotkaz · Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 525

KILLERS could be ordered to pay the cost of their victims’ FUNERALS under new plans by the Scottish Government.

And if a criminal’s financial circumstances change — like a win on the lottery — courts could take this into account when dishing out compensation.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill yesterday announced the new package of measures to support victims of crime — and make them feel safer in courtrooms.

But the bid was slammed as a CHEAP GIMMICK by a heart-broken mum whose son was knifed to death.

Maureen McGonigle insisted many thugs would not have the cash — and said she wouldn’t have wanted it anyway.

Mum-of-five Maureen — whose son Brian McWilliams, 29, was killed in 2007 — said: “It’s a cheap gimmick and insult to victims’ families.

Maureen, from Glasgow, also lost her brother Edward, 35, just six months later in an alleged stabbing. She added: “It’s not going to stop somebody murdering.

“I wouldn’t want money off the people who killed my son. It adds insult to injury. We need action, not words.”

At a Victim Support Scotland conference in Glasgow Mr MacAskill said the Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill — due to be published next month — will “help more victims and families”.

He added: “We aim to give criminal courts more flexibility to award compensation, and pay funeral and bereavement expenses to relatives of a deceased victim.”

This could apply to any unlawful death — from victims of murderers to those killed by drunk drivers.
Harassing

The SNP’s measures also include allowing witnesses to give evidence anonymously, and court orders to prevent criminals from harassing them.

Joe Duffy, 59, whose daughter Amanda was murdered in 1992, approved. He said: “I’m delighted that we are still reviewing ideas that victims’ rights should be paramount.”

He won a historic case in 1995, blaming her death on Francis Auld — who had earlier been acquitted.

Auld refused to pay £50,000 compensation and fled from Hamilton, Lanarkshire, to England.

The moves were also welcome by Labour last night. but Shadow Justice Secretary Richard Baker opposed part of the Bill.

He said: “Plans to scrap six month sentences will mean 81 per cent of knife criminals will not receive any custodial sentence.”

And Tory justice spokesman Bill Aitken said: “This idea is fine in theory but in practice many killers simply won’t have any assets.”

Mr MacAskill said the Bill will create offences to both deter crooks and protect the public. He insisted: “The intention will be to protect the safety of the witness and prevent harm to the public interest.”

David McKenna, Chief Executive of Victim Support Scotland, added: “The reforms demonstrate the value of working with the Government and all agencies in the criminal justice field.”

andrewnicoll@the-sun.co.uk

scotkaz · Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 525

What a load of old tosh this is. And it is highly insensitive towards the families of victims.

Would any of you want the person who killed your loved one to pay for their funeral? I know I would most certainly not.

There are others ways to get restitution from criminals.

This is like saying, Sorry your loved one was murdered but dont worry we got the funeral covered.

And wouldnt there have to be a conviction for murder before they could be ordered to pay up? What if the accused was appealing because they say they are innocent? So really all the people are able to do is sue perhaps years later to get the money they paid out back. And I dont know any prisoners who have that amount of money lying in their prison accounts, so would it then be down to the prisoners families, who suffer also to pay?

Big Wullie · Joined: 25 Apr 2007 Posts: 1149 Location: Glasgow

Absolutely under no circumstances would any of my family ever take money from the killer of any of our family for a Funeral.

We would not want anything to do with them.

Is this not just a way for the Governmemt to claim back Criminal Injuries from the perpetrators.

A bit of a cheap publicity stunt if you ask me and not workable

Angeline · Joined: 02 Oct 2008 Posts: 145

Utter garbage. Both insensitive and unworkable.

Just goes to show how completely out of touch with reality they are.

I'm disgusted.
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As long as one heart still holds on, then hope will never really be gone

scotkaz · Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 525

There is a story in tomorrows Sunday Post about Wullie's fight for justice!

Patty · Joined: 22 Feb 2009 Posts: 3 Location: Scotland

Parent's fury at pervert for grooming Down Syndrome daughter
Feb 22 2009 By Lesley Roberts

THE parents of a special needs girl groomed by a teenage sex offender have told of their fury as her attacker walked free.

Prosecutors accepted Philip McMahon's guilty plea to a reduced charge because they were worried victim Mary could be traumatised in the witness box.

Student McMahon - a nephew of MSP Michael McMahon - assaulted the 14-year-old on a minibus while taking her home from a special needs youth club.

Mary - whose name has been changed to protect her anonymity - has Down's syndrome and was described by experts as "severely mentally handicapped".

She was so distressed by the attack she thought police were going to arrest her.

Her family, who live five minutes from McMahon's home in Holytown, Lanarkshire, are horrified he walked free with three years' probation and 200 hours' community service.

And they are sickened that McMahon posted pictures on Bebo of himself with teenage girls as he awaited trial - nicknaming himself Sexy Phil.

Mary's 37-year-old dad said: "This guy went to our church. We know his family. We think he volunteered to help out at Mary's club so he could be around vulnerable youngsters.

"Since this happened, we found out he'd shown Mary pictures on his mobile phone of women taking their clothes off and asked her to do 'sexy dancing'.

"She even asked us for a pole for her birthday to do pole dancing. At the time, we had no idea where she got that from.

"He was grooming her all along. He exploited a vulnerable girl who trusted him. It's our worst nightmare come true and justice has not been done."

McMahon turned up as a volunteer at Mary's special needs club in Carfin.

He befriended the young girl, then aged just 13, over a four-month period and she was among a group he escorted in the minibus home at night.

In December 2007, shortly after her 14th birthday, Mary was dropped off as normal but immediately told her sister McMahon had assaulted her.

The panicked teenager then told her parents McMahon had fondled her and made her perform a sex act on him, while two other volunteers chatted at the front of the bus.

Her 33-year-oldmumsaid: "Mary was last to be dropped off. He only had about 10 minutes with her before reaching our house. He had planned it. I keep thinking what he would have done if he got her in private." McMahon was scheduled to face a jury trial but when he appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court two weeks ago, Mary's parents were stunned to learn he had agreed to plead guilty to a reduced charge. The accusation that he coaxed her to perform a sex act had been deleted.

Instead, he was convicted of lewd and libidinous conduct, put on the sex offenders register for three years and told to have therapy.

Mary's dad said: "They were worried about Mary being a witness because McMahon said she was flirtatious.

"They were trying to say she was to blame but she is a 14-year-old with Down's syndrome.

"McMahon knew what he was doing. He even told her not to tell anyone, especially her grandad. He knew they are close.

"He told her to 'show how much you love me'.

"Everyone who interviewed Mary said she was a credible witness. She didn't know anything about the acts she was describing. She couldn't have made it up."

McMahon made much of his respectable upbringing in court.

His mother, Margaret, is deputy head at a high school in Hamilton and his father Peter a biochemist.

But his MSP uncle has publicly distanced himself from the pervert.

Mary's dad said: "I don't want Michael McMahon tainted by this. He has been very supportive of us."

MSP Michael said last night: "My thoughts are entirely with the victim's family. What happened to them should not have been visited on anyone."

McMahon has tried to disguise himself since his conviction, dyeing his ginger hair black.

Meanwhile, Mary's family are left to pick up the pieces.

Her dad said: "Mary started lashing out and crying. She even tried calling the police to tell them about the attack out of pure frustration.

"We don't understand why McMahon wasn't jailed. It wasn't an opportunistic assault, it was predatory. Other parents have the right to know."

'Mary was last to be dropped off..McMahon planned it'

'It's our worst nightmare come true..justice hasn't been done'

SUNDAY EMAIL

l.roberts@sundaymail.co.uk

Angeline · Joined: 02 Oct 2008 Posts: 145

This is sickening. It wasn't about justice, it was about money - it's cheaper and easier to accept a guilty plea to reduced charges than go to the expense of having a jury trial.

This poor girl and her family have been totally betrayed by the Justice System, and we're left with a dangerous sex offender walking in our midst.

There is, quite simply, no reason why she couldn't have given evidence - even her family say so. The new moves to protect vulnerable witnesses should all have been put into operation (but, of course, that would have cost even more money).

So much for the government's claim to be "re-balancing the system in favour of the victim."

In the same weekend we hear that, after 17 years, the CJS might, just might, be willing to look at the possibility that an innocent man has been locked up for a crime that never was, we also hear about an offender who walked away scot free for a serious crime that very definitely happened.

What a mess.
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As long as one heart still holds on, then hope will never really be gone

scotkaz · Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 525

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/s...on-with-vice-girls-and-booze.html

EX-WIFE TELLS OF SUFFERING AT HANDS OF LAW CHIEF

By Marcello Mega, 14/03/2009

SLEAZY sheriff Andrew Lothian is a wife-beating drunk who’s obsessed with prostitutes, his ex-wife reveals.

The shamed 66-year-old was forced to quit the bench after claims he paid for spanking and whipping sessions with an Edinburgh hooker.

But today the News of the World can expose the shocking secrets of his sordid private life.

According to long-suffering ex-wife Harriet Lothian, the twisted beak:

TRIED to make her have sex with strangers while he watched

ADMITTED using prostitutes during their marriage

DOWNED at least a bottle of spirits every day, and

BATTERED her while their unsuspecting kids slept upstairs.

Speaking at length for the first time since her ex-husband’s sauna shame, disgusted Harriet, 57, below, said: “I’m surprised it took so long for his activities to be exposed.

Harriet. ex-wife of Sheriff Andrew Lothian

“I tried repeatedly to alert the police and the Crown to his unsuitability for office because of his behaviour, but to no avail.

“I suffered greatly at his hands, both during our marriage and for many years after I divorced him.”

We told last November how Lothian quit his £125,000-a-year job after Crown Office bosses confronted him about allegations over his private life.

But, according to Harriet his obsession with sordid sex had been going on for years.

Lothian’s wife of 19 years said: “Sexually, there were problems from an early stage in the marriage.

“I found it so unsettling that I sought advice from my father, who was a doctor, and who I could talk to about anything.

“Andrew was into kinky but fairly inadequate sex. He also had fantasies about introducing third parties, men or women, into the bedroom.

Sheriff Andrew Lothian with ex-wife Harriet cutting their wedding cake in 1983

“I had no interest, but he kept asking me to do it to please him.

“I refused because I found the idea repulsive. He said he could pay people to make his fantasies come true.”

Harriet suspected her hubby was using hookers during their marriage.

And she told how her elderly father was forced to confront Lothian about the sleazy claims. Harriet said: “He confessed without any shame. He told me he had lost his virginity at 16 to a prostitute, and that he’d always been turned on by them.

“I was devastated. I told him I’d never have unprotected sex with him again but he was totally unrepentant.

“Once his obsession was out in the open, he became more demanding. If he was out at a dinner, he would bring men home and want me to have sex with them while he watched.

“I would have to throw them out, which was embarrassing. I found the idea repugnant. Apart from anything else, I had children in the house.

“My father was 68, but was very close to me and he had no hesitation in speaking to Andrew and telling him to shape up.”

The couple had married on December 28, 1983, after a whirlwind romance. Lothian already had a son, also Andrew, from the first of two previous marriages, and Harriet had a young son, James, from a previous relationship.

Two years after their wedding, Harriet gave birth to their son Robert, but already the foundations of the marriage were beginning to crumble.

She says: “By the time Robert came along, I had serious concerns about his father’s alcoholism and how terribly ill it was making him. He was drinking at least a bottle of spirits a day, and that was just what I was witnessing. He was in a mess.

“I went home with Robert on New Year’s Day 1986 and Andrew was in such a terrible state that he became abusive. I threw a milk bottle at him and hit him on the side of the head.

“The next day, I insisted he saw a doctor, and he agreed because his mother was in the house.

Harriet tried to alert senior legal officals to her husband’s alcohol abuse but was snubbed at every turn.

Things spiralled further out of control and by Christmas 1996 Harriet demanded Lothian move out. She said: “His language became more abusive. There were implied threats of violence and the odd punch to the side of the head where no visible marks were left, but I was still shocked by what happened then.”

Harriet told how their sons, James, now 27, and Robert, now 23, were in their bedrooms when a huge row erupted on Christmas Eve that year. She claims Lothian slapped her hard in the face, before punching her full on the nose.

As their shocked mother took refuge in the bathroom, where she tried to stem the flow of blood, both sons plucked up the courage to leave their rooms and go to her aid.

With her face badly marked and her eyes beginning to blacken, the family went through the motions the next day, exchanging presents and eating dinner — but the mood was understandably bleak.

Sheriff Andrew Lothian dressed as Captian Hook with Son Robert and ex-wife Harriet

Harriet said: “Until that point, I’d been trying to hold things together for my sons, but I couldn’t go on with the charade. No child should have to see their mother pouring with blood from a blow their father has struck. It was a total nightmare.”

Robert said: “I remember clearly what happened that night and it sickens me the way he behaved. It is more than ten years since I have spoken to him.

“When I was 12 I wrote him a letter telling him I wanted nothing to do with him.”

Following the attack Harriet demanded that Lothian move out of the family home in Lauder, Berwickshire.

She wept: “I feared for the safety of our sons. I had no choice.” But in summer 2001 Lothian — then living in Edinburgh — launched a court bid to SELL the house.

She said: “The move was especially hurtful as Robert was about to start his Higher courses.

“It was also difficult to understand as Andrew had inherited a six-figure sum the previous year when his mother died.”

Lothian’s partner at that time, Eleanor Burns, daughter of Sir John and Lady Eleanor Burns, had also inherited a substantial sum on the death of her mother, just a week before Catriona Lothian’s death. By 2002, when they finally divorced, Harriet claims that Lothian enjoyed a six-figure salary whilst Harriet took care of their children and could only work part-time as a rape crisis counsellor.

In the end she had to pay Lothian £28,000 to buy him out of the family home and finish the marriage.

Lothian and his brother Murdoch were subject to an Inland Revenue investigation in 2000 after claiming the contents of their late mother’s Stirling home were worth a mere £5,000.

This included antique furniture, jewellery, silver, paintings and pottery. It’s understood the Inland Revenue later valued the list at £300,000.

But Harriet still wishes justice had been done for the assault she endured in 1996. She said: “Successive governments on both sides of the border have claimed to wage war on domestic violence.

“There was an opportunity for the Scottish establishment to show there was substance behind the platitudes by taking action against a senior lawyer. But typically, they covered his back.”

Now self-employed in horticulture, Harriet added: “I have to work extremely hard to make a living. Andrew’s disgrace has not made life any easier, but I feel vindicated.”

Lothian served on the Glasgow bench from 1979 to 1992 before moving to Edinburgh. He’s expected to keep his £7,000-a-month pension.

He was unavailable to comment on the allegations.

Verbatim · Joined: 18 May 2008 Posts: 7 Location: High St, Edinburgh.

I am shocked that this man was allowed to sentence people for the very same things he did (assault and kerb crawling)
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Our Justice System is severely outdated and out of touch with reality.
Time for change.

allan mcleod · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 157

Kevin Mcleods Unsolved death.

There will be a press article in this weekends Sunday Mail, regarding Northern Constabularys latest sudden and twisted tactic to close the case (which they the police cannot overturn the Fatal Accident Inquiry Sheriff's determination of Open Verdict) after we provided them with significant information which they are now unbelievably referring to as a complaint. A COMPLAINT !!

MODERATED OUT AS POTENTIALLY LIBELLOUS....... They have all known who murdered Kevin from day one, that why its all been covered up, to protect those responsible, and to protect the reputation of Northern Constabulary Police Force.