MCLEISH DELIVERS HIS CRACKDOWN ON CRIMINALS

Minister says Crime and Disorder Act will help to keep ordinary people safe

THE Scottish Office's flagship policies on drugs, sex offenders, racism and
bad neighbours passed into law yesterday as the Crime and Disorder Act
received Royal Assent.

The Scottish Office home affairs minister, Henry McLeish, said the act
would help to keep ordinary people safe, with such measures as anti-social
behaviour orders which can be imposed against nuisance neighbours, stronger
powers of eviction, and the new law against racial harassment.

Campaigners against child abuse, racism and bad neighbours gave a warm
welcome to the new measures.

But drug treatment and testing orders immediately ran into controversy, as
David Macauley, the campaign director of Scotland Against Drugs (SAD),
warned they would flop unless drugs rehabilitation projects became more
"professional".

"I applaud and support drug treatment and testing orders, which are long
overdue, but - and it is a big but - rehabilitation projects have to be
properly and professionally managed in order to be successful," said Mr
Macauley.

"If they are run by social work departments, or in the ethos of social work
departments, they may not be as successful as if they were run in a
professional manner [by drugs counsellors]."

A spokesman for the Scottish Drugs Forum (SDF), the umbrella body for
rehabilitation projects, accused Mr Macauley of undermining public
confidence in the new measure.

"Mr Macauley's words are sadly largely irrelevant and show just how out of
touch the SAD campaign has become," said Graeme McArthur, the regional
manager of SDF.

"Positive steps to try truly to address society's drugs problems, such as
this from Mr McLeish, are to be welcomed and should be supported.

"The vast majority of the drugs field will support and work positively with
government to make this initiative work, and others designed to reduce
drug-related offending. Drug treatment orders are by no means a soft option
and should not be portrayed as such."

Mr McLeish said yesterday: "We came to office on a promise to create
communities that are safe, where respect and adherence to the law are
natural and not in any way the exception to the rule.

"We identified specific areas of concern to Scots - real issues affecting
real people in towns and cities throughout the country. This package forms
a key part of the delivery of this promise.

"The Scottish elements of the act will require strong partnership between
central and local government, police and other parts of the criminal
justice system. I am confident that, by working together, we will deliver
on a safer Scotland for law-abiding citizens."

Under the drug treatment and testing orders, sheriffs will be able to
sentence offenders who steal to feed a drugs habit to a programme of drug
treatment, with mandatory testing, instead of sending them to prison.

Justice campaigners hope that keeping drug addicts out of jail may help to
reduce the toll of suicides among both men and women behind bars.

Other sections of the act include a new crime of racially aggravated
harassment, and instructions to the Scottish courts that any racist element
should be treated as an aggravating factor in other offences.

Chris Myant, a spokesman for the Scottish Commission for Racial Equality,
said it was delighted with the change to the law, for which it had been
campaigning for over a decade.

"We have been finding that the Scottish police are a bit behind other
forces in the UK in terms of keeping statistics on racial harassment and
violence, but they are getting up to speed now," he said.

"There are about 15 serious assaults against people because of their race
in Scotland each year, and we will be working with the police to follow
these through and find out what happens afterwards."

The Sex Offender Orders will enable the police to apply to a sheriff for an
order to ban a convicted paedophile seen as a serious threat to children,
from hanging around places where local youngsters gather. The order will
also oblige paedophiles to register with the police, and report when they
move house.

Pauline Thomson, secretary of Scottish People Against Child Abuse, said:
"These orders will act as a deterrent, although the question remains
whether the police will implement them.

"People will feel more comfortable if they know the police have this power,
and that is definitely a step in the right direction."

In addition, courts will have the power to sentence sex offenders to be
supervised in the community for up to ten years after they leave jail, and
violent offenders for up to five years.

Councils have been given powers to evict tenants who are committing crimes
or anti-social behaviour, another method which is aimed at clamping down on
drugs and drug dealing.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski