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31 July, 2010
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By Rhoda Grant MSP
Published: 10 March, 2010
IT has been a particularly hectic week for me - I have my usual two committees and case work to deal with, while also working on my own member's bill, which deals with giving those who suffer abuse greater access to justice and more protection.
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This week I have been trying to push an amendment to the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Bill regarding stalking. Stalking is an offence that most people are aware off but maybe don't know what it entails. When I was promoting my bill, Ann Moulds and her organisation Action Stalking Against Scotland, came to see me to ask if I would add to my bill a section that would make stalking a crime. However, because members' bills are extremely difficult to get through the parliament, making my bill more complicated might have meant that the whole bill would fall. Instead I suggested she might get someone to amend the Criminal Justice Bill - but she was back shortly to ask if I would! Normally it is members of the committee scrutinising the bill who move amendments, so this is a whole new ball game to me. We drafted an amendment that creates a new crime of stalking and lists the types of behaviour that would constitute the crime of stalking. Many of these behaviours in themselves are perfectly innocent - loitering, texting, phoning and the like are all things that are perfectly legal to do. However, when they are used to frighten or intimidate another person this is not acceptable. Ann was stalked for a number of years. She was terrified, she did not know who this person was and where they were. As a consequence she had to leave her home and give up her own business. When she eventually discovered the identity of her stalker he was prosecuted and given community service and probation - her life was ruined. She is an extremely brave woman who is now campaigning to make sure that others do not face the same ordeal that she did and see their abuser get off so lightly. I guess the last irony to this case is that she is seeking to sue him for damages - she has been told he has access to legal aid to help him defend himself, she does not. It is important that this amendment gets passed to protect people like Ann and to make sure that the legal system views these crimes as serious enough to ensure a jail sentence. This is the only way we will deter people from terrorising others. 
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