THE legal system is getting itself in a mess over Stuart McGhie, the deviant who tries to attract teenage girls and young women by dangling money about.
He has been back in court for again breaching the Antisocial Behaviour Order banning him from this distressing practice and has been jailed for 15 months — in reality seven-and-a-half months.
It’s not the first time he has been jailed, but we question why this sentence is so light.
This time McGhie was enticing girls to text him so he could lure them to his road on the promise of money.
There is a level of sophistication and escalation here that raises concerns about what he could do next.
In 2007, we commended Judge Julian Hall for not jailing McGhie, but instead seeking an alternative to ‘cure’ him. The judge reasoned a cycle of short-term prison sentences was not working. It was the correct outlook. But it has obviously failed.
There is still talk of ‘identifying problems’ and discussing how to deal with them.
It’s quite simple. He’s had several chances and has not taken them.
Breaching an Asbo carries a maximum five-year jail term. It’s time to start imposing sentences not far off.
If McGhie does ever harm someone, then a string of people in the justice system will have been complicit for the lack of serious action.
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