Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

News Update from October

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is Scotland's sole public prosecution authority. In addition to prosecuting crimes in District, Sheriff and High Courts, the Service is also involved in enquiries into sudden and suspicious deaths. On a day-to-day basis staff are also involved with local criminal justice partners working in their communities.

Below is a sample of the type of cases and events we have been involved in during October:

Proceeds of Crime

* The Lord Advocate announced that over £2m has been secured from criminals in the first six months of this financial year, using powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Prosecutors secured confiscation orders worth £1,167,782 and restrained approximately £10.5 million worth of assets from convicted and alleged drug dealers, money launderers and fraudsters during the first six months of this financial year.

In the same period the courts ordered the recovery of £839,386 following proceedings by the Civil Recovery Unit. Over £650,000 of this is in cash recoveries alone. This is money which the courts have concluded was the result of various types of criminal activity.

Terrorism

* Mohammed Athif Siddique was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on the 23rd of October, to eight years in prison after being found guilty of a series of terrorism offences. The 21-year-old from Alva, Clackmannanshire had distributed a range of terrorist material via the internet, and had threatened to become a suicide bomber.

Edinburgh hit-and-runs

* Isaac Purcell was sentenced to 12 years at the High Court in Glasgow for the culpable homicide of Edinburgh schoolboy Jack Anderson. He was also given a concurrent 18-month sentence for dangerous driving. Purcell knocked down 10-year-old Jack Anderson as he crossed the road after school.

*Daniel Jackson was sentenced to 13 years for the culpable homicide of 4-year-old Olivia Donachie and the serious assault of her mother. Jackson drove into them in his Jeep after consuming a large quantity of drugs. The Jeep was also unsafe to drive.

Sex Crime

* Gordon Melrose was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years for the assault and attempted rape of a pregnant woman. Following the sentencing at the High Court in Edinburgh, his victim said "I am glad that justice has been done."

* Steven Brodie was jailed for eight years at Edinburgh High Court after pleading guilty to having unlawful intercourse with two underage girls. He contacted his 13- and 15-year-old victims via internet chat rooms. Convicted at Wick Sheriff Court, the case was remitted to the High Court so that a longer sentence could be imposed.

Counterfeiting

* Six members of a counterfeiting gang were sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh over a sophisticated counterfeiting scam that was capable of producing £2 million in fake banknotes a day. Thomas McAnea, known as "Hologram Tam", was sentenced to 6 years and 4 months. John McGregor, Steven Todd and Robert Fulton were each sentenced to 4 years. Joseph McKnight was sentenced to three years and Rodney Cadogan was sentenced to 15 months.