Sheriff tours Moray's unpaid work project
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
MORAY'S sheriff took a break from the bench to see how Community Payback sentences are working.
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov and two visiting Spanish judges toured Moray Council’s criminal justice team's workshop last week to see current examples of unpaid work projects.
People carrying out Community Payback Orders (CPOs) were busy repairing flower planters for a local school while supervisors explained how they ensure the sentences are carried out within agreed times.
Schools, community centres and halls, and a range of elderly and vulnerable individuals have benefited from the teams’ work, which ranges from garden makeovers to repairing and repainting halls, restoring paths and historic features, building school sandpits and refurbishing amenity furniture.
The judges were escorted on the tour by Moray Council’s justice service manager Tish Richford, who said it was the first time a sheriff has visited the workshop.
She said: "It is important that our sheriffs understand the work that goes on in Moray, as they need to be satisfied that there are significant efforts made by criminal justice social work teams to successfully deliver CPOs at a local level.
"It was great to showcase what is achieved by those doing unpaid work. The sheriff wanted to see for herself that a CPO was making a difference both to the community and to those she has sentenced."
CPOs were introduced in 2011 and give sheriffs the choice of imposing a work order instead of a prison sentence.
Defaulting on CPO lands the individual in jail to complete the original sentence, and sheriffs have to satisfy themselves that a convicted offender would be willing and able to complete the order before imposing it.
Sheriff Pasportnikov said: "It has been good to see this side of the CPO process and how the service operates.
"Hearing from the supervisors has also really helped me appreciate some of the issues they face, and will be of benefit to me when I am considering such a disposal.
"Some see these orders as a soft option and I understand why they might hold that view, but the alternative – prison – offers the community only a short respite from criminality.
"CPOs provide a tangible benefit and has real successes with those who choose to make the most of the opportunity to break the cycle of offending.
"Currently I do not receive any data on the success of this sentencing option – the only way I know if it has worked is when I don’t see those I have sentenced appearing before me again – so hearing direct from the team here has been very reassuring."
