SNP Wants More Defendants Bailed

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Byline: Stuart Nicolson

WOMEN, single parents, teenagers and the mentally ill are to be givenpriority when it comes to granting bail.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said the move was aimed at making sure peoplewere not 'clogging up' jails.

But it sparked a furious reaction from the Tories, who dismissed the plan as'absolute nonsense' and warned that the rights of the accused were now moreimportant than protecting the public.

Mr MacAskill yesterday announced an extra [pounds sterling]500,000 a year would be spent on thesupervised bail scheme, aimed at minimising the number of prisoners held onremand.

The scheme, which already costs …