BBC News
By David Cowan
image captionJustice Secretary Keith Brown visited The Meadows centre in Larbert
Scotland s justice secretary says he would not shy away from radical reforms if they would improve conviction rates on sex crimes.
Keith Brown said proposals for specialist sex crime courts and the abolition of the not proven verdict would need to go out to consultation.
But he said major changes could be brought in if consensus is reached.
His comments came after a visit to The Meadows centre for victims of sexual assault at Larbert near Falkirk.
The specialist facility was set up by NHS Forth Valley after the Scottish government decided that forensic examination suites should be moved out of police stations and into the community.
A FORMER diplomat was sentenced to eight months in jail for contempt of court yesterday over his coverage of the Alex Salmond trial.
Craig Murray watched two days of the former first minister’s trial at Edinburgh’s High Court in March 2020 and wrote about it on his website.
Judges subsequently ruled that Mr Murray, 62, was in contempt of court, relating to material capable of identifying four complainers.
Sentencing the former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, Lady Dorrian said that Mr Murray knew there were court orders giving the women anonymity.
At the virtual sentencing, Lord Justice Clerk Lady Dorrian explained that Mr Murray deliberately risked jigsaw identification, which is when two or more pieces of information are disclosed in order to identify an individual.
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Former Dundee University rector Craig Murray has been jailed for eight months for breaching strict rules around identifying witnesses in the the Alex Salmond trial.
Craig Murray, 62, breached a strict court order which was passed to protect women who gave evidence at the former first minister’s high court trial last year.
He had watched two days of Mr Salmond’s trial in March 2020 from the public gallery of Edinburgh’s High Court and wrote about it on his website.
By Press Association 2021
A policeman outside the High Court in Edinburgh
A blogger and former diplomat has been sentenced to eight months in jail for “abhorrent” contempt of court over his coverage of the Alex Salmond trial.
Craig Murray watched two days of Mr Salmond’s trial in March 2020 from the public gallery of Edinburgh’s High Court, and wrote about it on his website.
Judges subsequently ruled that Murray, 62, was in contempt of court, relating to material capable of identifying four complainers.
Sentencing the former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, Lady Dorrian said Murray knew there were court orders giving the women anonymity and he was “relishing” the potential disclosure of their identities.