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SCOTLAND'S most senior police officer has called for specialist courts to be created across the country [[[to deal with the soaring number of domestic abuse cases.]]]Stephen House,(picture left) chief constable of Strathclyde Police, said a pilot scheme – which every year sees a dedicated sheriff deal swiftly [[[with more than 700 violent partners ]]]who are "fast-tracked" through the system by prosecutors in Glasgow – was proving "hugely successful".He said the pilot, set up in October 2004, should be replicated in other cities and towns across the country, describing the absence of public money for the move as a "frustration".Mr House's call puts him at odds with the Scottish Government, which has ruled out a national roll-out of domestic- violence courts, agreeing only to fund an expansion of the Glasgow service. The SNP-led administration has also halted a planned national roll-out of youth courts.Latest figures show violence against women in the home is at an all-time high. A 7 per cent rise in recorded incidents of abuse took the number of cases to more than 48,000 in Scotland last year, but a victim survey has revealed that many incidents go unreported, and [[[the true number could be as high as 250,000.]]]The figures led Morag Alexander, head of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights in Scotland, to describe domestic violence as [[["a hidden epidemic of unimaginable proportions"]]].Mr House said the pilot court had been "very successful".He added: "We've had experience of this elsewhere in the country and the world. The great thing is the judge becomes an expert on the issue and immune to the excuses from offenders. The court becomes less tolerant of domestic violence and more understanding to the victim's situation. That helps them come up with a more appropriate sentence. "If those appearing before the court are repeat offenders, then clearly they need a custodial sentence. That is especially true as, for it even to get to court, it means it's a serious report."I would like to see the pilot spread across Strathclyde. In fact, we need to spread it out across the whole of Scotland."The frustration is the lack of public finances. If you could take the money police and health services spend on dealing with violence, particularly drink-related, and spend it on something else, such as these courts, it would make a real difference. The problem is we have to keep spending it on dealing with the consequences of domestic violence."Under the pilot scheme, victims are also given specialist support to help them overcome their fear of going to court.Last night, Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, insisted domestic abuse was "right up there" in the Scottish Government's priorities, but said the pressure on court buildings made it impractical to extend the scheme across Scotland. Edinburgh's courtrooms, for example, face a massive increase in workload when relatively minor district court cases are moved to the sheriff court in Chambers Street next year.Jacq Kelly, a spokeswoman for Scottish Women's Aid, said the lessons from the pilot scheme must be applied across the country, so victims of domestic abuse could benefit from quicker and more rigorous prosecutions. She added: "We are keen to see the lessons learned during the pilot applied elsewhere."To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....
