News In Focus
24 February 2006
Sheriff criticised for failure to ban motorist
A Perthshire sheriff was warned yesterday that his decision to allow a sex offender to keep his driving licence because he believed this would mean he was less likely to reoffend could damage the reputation of the judiciary.
William Brierley, 43, did not receive a six-month disqualification for driving under the totting-up procedure for driving offences when he appeared at Perth Sheriff Court in May last year.
He had admitted careless driving in a bakery delivery lorry and driving over, rather than around, a mini roundabout. This had resulted in a fine of £150 and four penalty points, which, when added to his existing penalty points, took him beyond the permitted 12.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis thought the ban might lead to Brierley reoffending. He had been put on probation for a series of indecency charges, one of which involved an assault on a 15-year-old epileptic girl while she was having a fit.
A background report on Brierley had assessed him as posing a medium risk of re-offending and harming women. It said his job - which necessitated driving - gave him a structure and focus, reducing his potential for re-offending.
The sheriff ruled that the greater public interest would be supported by Brierley keeping his licence.
However, the Crown Office appealed against the decision and the Justiciary Appeal Court decided "without much difficulty" that Sheriff Foulis had been wrong.
Gordon Nicholson QC, sitting with Lords Johnston and Nimmo Smith, said the sheriff's conclusion that the loss of Brierley's licence might lead to reoffending was "pure speculation".
The decision, they said, would create an anomaly where otherwise blameless motorists would lose their licence, whereas offenders such as Brierley would get to keep theirs.
This, they went on, was not an outcome consistent with public policy and likely to bring the judiciary into disrepute.