Damian's Law

May 18th, 2009

For those of us who supported the Damian’s Law campaign, it has been a good and productive week.

 

There have been two new developments that give hope to people like me who want to see criminals punished and victims supported.

 

First, we launched a consultation in Inverclyde looking for people’s views on a new bill that should see the creation of a Victim’s Commissioner.

 

If the bill passes, it will put victims right at the heart of the justice process and make sure their interests and feelings are taken into account through an influential voice.

 

To launch the consultation, we visited the Inverclyde Victim Support team to get their views and thank them for the great work they do with thousands of people every year.

 

John Muir himself joined us to give the bill his backing and I am confident many others will be supportive of this welcome move.

 

Then we had announcements by Scotland’s two largest opposition parties – Labour and the Conservatives – that they support mandatory jail sentences for knife criminals.

 

Unfortunately, that still leaves us two votes short to make the necessary amendments to the forthcoming Criminal Justice Bill at the Scottish Parliament.

 

But we will keep up the pressure on the Scottish Government until they get tough on knives.

 

I believe public opinion is very much for a tough stance on knife criminals and the recent attendance at the knife summit in Greenock Town Hall.

 

And I think Damian’s Law has taken a couple of steps closer to reality this week.