Freed early but commits another crime a week later

Feb 9 2010 by Alison Lowson, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

A SHERIFF expressed astonishment that a Perth woman with a history of breaching bail had been freed early from a 21-month sentence.

Pamela Scrimgeour had been released, with a tag, from Cornton Vale on July 13 last year – but just a week later she was caught with a £10 bag of heroin in a city centre street.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said: “We have someone who is sentenced to 21 months – and who has a history, indeed a recent history, of failing to comply with bail orders and offending while on bail, and yet she’s out after serving a quarter of her sentence.

“And, surprise, surprise, she breaches her tag.’’

Scrimgeour, formerly of Tweedsmuir Road but now living in the Greyfriars Hostel, Princes Street, had her sentence deferred until March 3 to await the preparation of a background report.

She admitted possessing the Class A drug in Scott Street, Perth, on July 20 last year.

The accused had been given a number of jail terms, adding up to 21 months, on May 6 last year for theft, housebreaking, breaches of bail, flouting a probation order and a Misuse of Drugs charge.

Her solicitor, Linda Clark, said she had been released with an electronic monitoring device on July 13.

But she breached the terms of her early release by having the Class A drug and had been returned to prison to serve the balance of her sentence.