'There needs to be immediate change!' Victims and families demand John Swinney scraps early release amid violence against women epidemic

Victims of crime and their families have issued a plea to John Swinney to tighten bail conditions for men suspected of attacking women and scrap his plan for earlier release of long-term prisoners.The First Minister came under growing pressure on Tuesday to act amid concerns that his ‘soft’ approach to justice has contributed to an epidemic of violence against women.Sean Hunter, whose sister Stacy Hunter was murdered by her husband while he was on bail for attacking her, said tougher action is needed immediately to tighten bail conditions or there will be more victims of attacks.Liz Shanks, who suffered a three-year campaign of abuse at the hands of her then partner, said victims are the last people considered by Scotland’s ‘soft’ justice system and called for proposals to release long-term prisoners including sex offenders and domestic abusers after two-thirds of their sentence to be scrapped.In parliament, Mr Swinney reiterated his pledge to provide ‘personal leadership’ on tackling the ‘epidemic of violence against women and girls’ and announced that regulations will be introduced before the October recess to allow GPS monitoring of people on bail, including those suspected of domestic use, with a pilot to be carried out across Tayside, central Scotland and Fife next year.But Mr Hunter, whose 35-year-old sister was killed by Jim Mair, 43, at her home near Houston in Renfrewshire in July while he was on bail for attacking her, said: ‘There just needs to be immediate change, there has to be something done now. Women out there today are getting tormented by their partners and that needs to be changed immediately. Stacy Hunter, 35, was killed by her partner Jim Mair at her home near Houston in July ‘The first stop is the bail conditions. These things are inevitable, this is going to continue to happen, there’s going to be more names. But if we can keep more people in and not let them just out to freely do as they please then that is the first point of call.‘After that is to probably roll in a register for domestic violence perpetrators so people are more aware of what kind of people they are.’Calling for accelerated action on the issue, he said: ‘People are definitely at risk. People are at risk and will be at risk. No matter what changes these things will continue to happen but we can make them less often.’Asked if the Scottish Government was doing enough to tackle violence against women and girls, Mr Hunter, who attended a summit on the issue at Holyrood on Tuesday organised by Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay, said: ‘No, absolutely not.’Ms Shanks, who suffered three years of abuse by her then partner Christopher Forrest at her home in Blantyre only to then find out his sentence was reduced due to a secretive plea deal, condemned the early release of prisoners and demanded that the current proposal to extend it to those serving long-term sentences should be dropped.She said: ‘I think it just highlights all the issues that we have regarding the justice system, and how it always seems to favour the perpetrator and the victim is the last person in this being thought of.‘With domestic abuse, we need to set a precedent. We are not going to do that unless we make examples of those going through the system for some of the most horrific crimes that they have carried out.‘It shouldn’t take for us feeling that our lives are at risk, and shouldn’t take for those being murdered for this to happen, for us to get an opportunity to speak or people of family members to speak on their behalf.‘Early release is part of the issue with the justice system. It doesn’t encourage victims to come forward, it doesn’t set a deterrent for those that are committing the crimes either – we just look soft.’During a debate at Holyrood, Mr Swinney told MSPs increased priority and leadership is needed to tackle the 'epidemic of violence against women and girls in Scotland'. Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay and John Swinney during a summit to tackle violence against women and girlsBut he said issues around bail ‘are fundamentally issues for the judiciary to determine independently’ and that legislation previously introduced still provides a ‘comprehensive bail test’ to be applied by judges.He said regulations will be introduced before next month’s recess allowing GPS monitoring of those on bail, including those suspected of domestic abuse, and said it is anticipated that a pilot will be launched next year.He also said a new sexual offences court will be established ‘in the next financial year’.Mr Findlay said he had heard ‘horrific accounts’ from female victims of violence and their families at his summit, and said that ‘far too often the justice system fails victims’. He also condemned the ‘broken bail system’ and demanded further reforms to ‘fix’ it.On the Scottish Government consultation to extend early release to long-term prisoners after two-thirds of their sentence, Mr Findlay said: ‘The Government knows what the consequences of this will be.‘And judges have criticised the early release plan, raising public safety concerns and warning about further harming fragile trust in the justice system.‘And I say to John Swinney today: take the dangerous automatic early release plan off the table.’SNP ministers failed to directly respond to the plea.But SNP MSP David Linden, convener of the criminal justice committee, said he does ‘remain to be convinced’ that bail reforms introduced in 2023 were right, and highlighted concerns from police officers.He also said that GPS monitoring of those on bail ‘is not a panacea’ and highlighted that some experts fear it will lead to ‘a false sense of security’.Carol Eden, head of communications and external affairs at Victim Support Scotland, said: 'Clearly, more needs to be done to protect women who are subject to domestic violence in particular, including strengthening risk assessments and incorporating victim feedback.'Recent proposals to achieve a sustainable prison population, which include a greater use of bail, should give equal weight to victim safety. We will continue to advocate on behalf of everyone impacted by crime in Scotland to ensure that victim safety and lived experience are integral to risk assessments and any new proposals.'