Just one in ten convicted of domestic violence go to jail

Just one in ten people in Scotland convicted of domestic violence receive a custodial sentence, with the vast majority receiving a monetary punishment or an admonishment.

Bill Aitken MSP, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice, uncovered the figures in a parliamentary answer.

Iain McGill says:

“Just 579 of the 5,029 people convicted of domestic violence in the past year received a custodial sentence. Compare this to the 1,968 who paid a fine, or the 1,467 who were ‘admonished’. Something is wrong here and it shows Scotland is a long way from zero tolerance towards domestic abuse. I will be investigating why the custodial rate is so low.

“Domestic violence can affect anyone and in particular can traumatise any children who witness it. A huge number of domestic violence incidents are never even reported, which makes the situation even worse.

“We need to send out a much stronger message to those who commit domestic violence that it simply will not be tolerated. People will not be deterred if they are not afraid of the consequences.

“This is also another reason why we must continue the fight against those who want to scrap sentences of six months or less. If the SNP and Lib Dems had their way then even fewer people convicted of domestic violence would be going to jail and that is totally unacceptable.”