ALLEGED murderers and rapists could be among those “let off the hook” as Scottish prosecutors struggle to tackle the Covid court backlog.
Around 2,000 cases are at risk of falling foul of “time bar” rules reverting to what they were pre-pandemic and failing to make it to court.
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And the Crown Office admitted the situation could see people accused of the most serious crimes being released without trial due to a technicality, rather than due to being innocent.
The revelation was met with fury from critics who said it was a “poor reflection” of the SNP’s failure on justice.
Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: “The evidence suggests there’s a major risk that, despite those engaged in the court system doing their best, serious criminals could be let off the hook.
“It seems the Scottish Government, has completely failed to plan properly for the aftermath of Covid and it’s our hardworking public servants who are expected to pick up the pieces”
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Prosecutors were given more time to investigate alleged crimes through emergency Covid legislation.
Rules for the length of time between an accused person appearing in court and their trial – alongside how long those awaiting trial could be held in jail on remand – were extended during the pandemic after the closure of the courts due to restrictions.
Ministers extended them again temporarily last year, but the changes are set to end for non-jury trials this month.
The most serious cases will see the temporary measures end this time next year.
But prosecutors said this month that they were accelerating bringing cases to court in a desperate bid for them to not fall foul of the changes – but warned of a “high risk of disruption” due to the ongoing courts backlog.
Crown Agent John Logue told MSPs this week that 2,000 cases were at risk of collapsing due to already being beyond normal legal limits.
He said: “At the moment of our caseload, we have about approximately 2,000 cases being prepared for court, which we expect to indict, which at the moment are beyond the traditional time bar.
“The law is that if time bars are not met by a particular, if the process has not reached a particular stage by a particular point by reference to the first appearance in court, then there is a risk either of accused being released from custody or the case not being prosecuted.”
In an update to MSPs, the Crown Agent also warned the changes would see a spike in the prison population as the deadline approaches.
Mr Logue added: “We will do our very best with the resource that we have next year to make progress in bringing that number down as close as possible to zero.
“But if we are not able to make the progress we would like, then the cases that are beyond the traditional time bar suddenly risk being time barred.”
