Justice must be blind – leader comment
It is concerning enough that a sheriff in Dumbarton gave an absolute discharge to an 18-year-old dental student found guilty of sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl.
The sheriff concluded the teenager was “emotionally naive” and had acted out of “inappropriate curiosity”, rather than sexual gratification, according to the Judicial Office for Scotland.
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Hide AdBut the sheriff also took into account that “any recorded conviction for this offence would have serious consequences in terms of the accused’s future career” and “any sentence would mean that he would probably be unable to continue his university course”.
This begs the question would an unemployed teenager or a carpenter’s apprentice have been sent to prison? If so, that is an appalling affront to justice.
A crime is still a crime whether the offender is a pauper, a prince or anywhere in between.