JUSTICE Secretary Humza Yousaf has pledged to look at how victims’ rights could be strengthened after meeting the family of Michelle Stewart.
Relatives of Michelle Stewart met with Mr Yousaf in Ayr on Friday, August 3 to make the case for changes dubbed “Michelle’s Law”.
They launched their campaign after learning her killer, John Wilson, could get out of jail before his minimum sentence is up and be relocated to Ayrshire.
Ms Stewart’s family began their campaign after receiving a Scottish Prisons Service letter indicating Wilson has been approved for first grant of temporary release – despite the judge who jailed him in 2009 making clear he should serve 12 years.
They set up a petition calling for a halt to Wilson’s relocation to Ayr on his release, and it currently has 4,500 signatures.
The Justice Secretary pledged on Twitter: “Thank you to family of Michelle Stewart for meeting with me. They’ve shown enormous strength in coming forward to tell Michelle’s story.
“Family presented a number of proposals - I will look at them with an open mind. Will look to see how we can strengthen victim’s rights.”
Their campaign calls for an explicit requirement for the safety and welfare of victims and their families to be taken into account when parole and early release are considered, increased use of powers to impose “exclusion zones” on offenders, and improvements to the Victim Notification Scheme (VNS).
MSP John Scott, said: “What we want is for victims and their families to have a much greater say.”
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