More Scottish drivers gaoled than burglars

Most sentences unrelated to poor driving

By PH Staff / Tuesday, 3 May 2005 / Loading comments

Drivers less likely to be gaoled

If you're a driver in Scotland and you've forgotten to renew your car tax, beware. You're more likely to be gaoled than if you committed burglary, according to figures released by the Scottish Executive last week, which showed that 1,574 motorists were gaoled in 2003, but only 1,252 burglars.

Most motoring offences were those that annoy us, such as driving without insurance; just 386 resulted from on-the-road driving offences such as drink-driving.

Nigel Humphries, a spokesman for the Association of British Drivers (ABD) reckoned that the figures reflected a war on drivers by the UK government. "There is a ridiculous persecution of the motorist going on. Many are simply being punished in a way that won't prevent further offences.

"Prison is intended as a method by which we remove dangerous people from society such as murderers, rapists and people who damage others. It is an improper use of the tool to send people to jail for a minor motoring offence."

Scottish Police Federation chairman Norrie Flowers said last week that there was a lack of focus on serious crimes. On burglary, he said, "We are not attending their calls quickly enough. Often, by the time we get there, the housebreaker has gone, the mugger has fled, or simply we have been too late to make a difference."