Fury as crime victims are barred from parole hearings to guard the ‘psychological well being’ of the prisoners
Victims of crime have been barred from parole hearings in case their appearance harms the prisoner’s ‘mental health’ or causes ‘disruption’.
Reasons for refusal also include the risk that the victim’s presence while the criminal’s bid for freedom is heard could prove ‘detrimental to the public interest’.
The disclosure comes after rape survivor Ellie Wilson revealed last month that she had been prevented from attending her attacker’s parole hearing on the grounds that it would not be in the ‘interests of justice’.
The 27-year-old, who has met First Minister John Swinney to raise concern over the parole system, previously claimed she had been asked to sign a gagging order to prevent her discussing what will be said at the hearing today.
Scottish Tory victims spokesman Sharon Dowey said: ‘It is shocking that a number of victims are being denied the chance to attend parole hearings. That is the reality of the SNP’s soft-touch Scotland – where victims are too often an afterthought and left feeling voiceless.
‘It is common sense that there should be transparency surrounding parole hearings and for victims to be at the heart of the decision-making process.’
The Parole Board for Scotland (PBS) said the victims had been barred for a variety of reasons, including that the hearing was looking at ‘matters of a confidential nature’ and was ‘likely to largely focus on issues of a sensitive and confidential nature’.
Other reasons included the possible effect on the prisoner’s ‘mental health’, while another reason given was the ‘risk that the victim would disrupt the proceedings and that their attendance could be detrimental to the public interest’.
The disclosure comes after rape survivor Ellie Wilson (pictured) revealed last month that she had been prevented from attending her attacker’s parole hearing on the grounds that it would not be in the ‘interests of justice’
Ms Wilson’s ex-partner, Daniel McFarlane (pictured), was jailed for five years in July 2022 after she recorded him confessing to rape
Since May 2023, 108 victims have requested to observe parole hearings. Of those, 102 were accepted and six were denied.
Last month Ms Wilson said she was told her attacker’s lawyer had objected to her being present when his plea to be freed after serving half his sentence is heard.
Writing on social media platform X, she posted a screen-grab of correspondence from the PBS, which said its panel ‘had carefully considered the victim’s application to observe the hearing’. It added: ‘Having regard to the objections lodged by the prisoner’s solicitor, the panel does not consider that it would be in the interests of justice to authorise the victim’s attendance.’
Ms Wilson’s ex-partner, Daniel McFarlane, was jailed for five years in July 2022 after she recorded him confessing to rape. He was 26 when he was locked up for two rapes which took place in December 2017 and February 2018. The attacks happened when he was a student.
Ms Wilson, of Glasgow, used a phone hidden in a handbag in 2019 to record McFarlane confessing. This month Mr Swinney met Ms Wilson and another rape survivor, Hannah McLaughlan.
She said the First Minster had admitted that it was ‘odd’ that Ms Wilson was told by parole chiefs that her request to attend her rapist’s hearing was denied.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: ‘Going through the parole system can be a daunting process, so we appreciate Ellie and Hannah’s openness and determination to help others.’
She said the PBS is ‘independent from the Scottish ministers [but] we will continue to listen to victims and their families’.
A PBS spokesman said: ‘All requests from registered victims to observe hearings are carefully considered.’
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said it ‘cannot intervene’ on PBS decisions but said ‘the needs of victims should be a priority’.
