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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() UK: Scotland ![]() Law change to keep killers locked up ![]() Karl Tonner is seeking release from Carstairs hospital ![]() Scottish ministers have announced details of emergency legislation to stop killers being released from the state psychiatric hospital at Carstairs. The move came as child killer Karl Tonner sought to exploit a legal loophole which led to the release of Noel Ruddle.
Tonner, who has changed his name to Karl Anderson, began moves to win his freedom on similar grounds at Lanark Sheriff Court on Friday. Now the Scottish Executive, which has faced severe criticism over its handling of the Ruddle affair, has announced proposals aimed at stopping any further releases.
The bill, which will amend existing legislation, will go before the Scottish Parliament next week and also includes:
The bill would mean that all appeals heard after it is introduced - that is likely to be next Wednesday - will be covered by the legislation. The Scottish Executive has confirmed this would mean Karl Tonner's case, and that of Brian Docherty who is planning a similar action, would be affected by what would be a rare piece of retrospective legislation. Mr Wallace said he had discussed the proposals with Scottish National Party justice spokeswoman Roseanna Cunningham and Scottish Tory leader David McLetchie.
"Our legislation will place a requirement on the courts to take public safety into account when considering an application for release. "The sheriff in Lanark was unable to do this in the case of Noel Ruddle. That is the loophole we are closing." At Lanark Sheriff Court on Friday, lawyer Yvonne McKenna, who also represented Ruddle, made an application for Tonner's release. Tonner killed a 12-year-old Dundee girl in 1968 and was sent to Carstairs without limit of time. He was not present in court for the short hearing. The 51-year-old is seeking to use the same clause in the Mental Health Scotland Act 1984 as that employed in Ruddle's case. Hearing adjourned Miss McKenna asked for an adjournment and Sheriff Douglas Allan, who heard Ruddle's case, agreed to a hearing on 7 and 8 of October. At the time of the killing, Tonner admitted culpable homicide, on the grounds of diminished responsibility. He had stripped and strangled Helen Phin with a length of rope in a workhouse close.
The convener of the parliament's justice committee Roseanna Cunningham said: "We are only at this stage because of the Ruddle case and the fact that opposition put pressure on the Executive. "The primary issue here is that of public safety. The second important issue is that we satisfy the European Convention on Human Rights." Some reports suggest a further four killers in Carstairs are preparing to launch similar legal actions. One of them is 26-year-old Brian Docherty. Docherty mutilated 11-year-old Kieran Hegarty in Belfast two years ago and buried him in a shallow grave. ![]() |
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