Paedophiles (Sentencing) (PE490)
Item 2 on our agenda is public petition PE490. I refer members to paper J2/02/18/6, which is a note on the petition. Paragraph 7 suggests that the committee should take the petition into account when scrutinising parts 1 and 3 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill. I ask members to note that the petition has received significant support—5,000 signatures.
It is right that we should take account of the petition. However, the bill offers considerable scope. Section 1 introduces orders for lifelong restriction; section 18 increases the penalties for paedophiles for having, and for supplying, pornographic photographs from the current six months and three years respectively; section 20 makes assessment mandatory on release; and section 24 provides for consecutive sentencing. I am content that, when considering those sections, we will have scope to address the matters that the petition quite properly raises.
I agree.
For the record, the petition calls on the Scottish Parliament to amend existing legislation in relation to the sentencing of convicted paedophiles or to introduce new legislation to ensure tougher sentencing. I do not see why we cannot address those issues in the coming weeks as we consider the bill.