A Dundee mum has hit out at justice officials, claiming prosecutors bungled by granting a convicted sex offender his freedom as he awaited trial for attacking a young boy.
The angry mum said 21-year-old sexual predator Connor Tait was granted bail and was free to roam the court building while his 11-year-old victim was “hidden away in witness rooms for hours” to avoid bumping into the pervert before and during his trial.
The woman, whose 11-year-old son was a witness to the attack on his friend, was also critical of the Sheriff Court Service, claiming the two families were being “treated like criminals” as they had to be “sneaked in and out” of fire exits and private rooms while Tait “came and went as he pleased”.
Tait, who had twice previously been convicted of sexual offences against young boys, was eventually remanded in custody during the trial before being unanimously found guilty last Monday of sexually assaulting his victim.
The boys’ ordeal was “doubled” according to Sheriff Richard Davidson by Tait’s denials of his guilt, which resulted in them being forced to give evidence at the court.
The mother of the victim’s friend said she was sickened by their experience in court, saying she felt the Crown had failed the families by not calling the case sooner.
She said: “The timebar (meaning the end of the 110-day period when Tait could legally be held in custody) came up before the trial was started and the Crown applied for an extension, but the sheriff said no, so he had to be bailed.
“I saw in The Courier that another sheriff refused three or four extensions the Crown asked for as well, so they’re obviously putting too many cases to court too late.
“The Crown must have known there was a danger of that happening because there were two other jury trials running at the same time, one of them was predicted to last for three to four weeks.
“We were told the trial was starting, then it was cancelled, then it was on, then it was cancelled again. This went on all week and it wasn’t until the Wednesday afternoon it started.
“These are two young boys, we were having to deal with their schools, telling them they would be in, then they wouldn’t be in, then they would, we were having to arrange days off work, then changing it. It was just ridiculous.
“And we were kept in these rooms for hours on end, having to go to certain toilets and being sneaked in and out of fire escape doors, so they wouldn’t have to bump into the person who attacked him.
“We just felt like we were the criminals instead of him, while he was allowed to wander about like he’s done nothing wrong.”
Last week, Sheriff Tom Hughes accused the Crown office of “loading the courts up” and then asking for timebar extensions, adding: “There is a systemic failure on the part of the Crown to deal with cases in an expeditious manner.”
Solicitor advocate Jim Laverty, president of the Dundee Bar Association, said: “We have witnessed an explosion of solemn prosecutions in the last five years without the appropriate resources put in place to ensure fairness to all interested parties and the proper administration of justice.
“There has been no investment in extra courts or sheriffs or prosecutors to deal with the Government’s next great legislative idea to beat crime in fact the explosion in prosecutions mirrors the diminution in resources less procurator fiscals and support staff, soon to be court closures and a reduction in sheriffs.
“The Government and in particular the justice secretary needs to get a grip on this.”
A spokesman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “COPFS works closely with the Scottish Court Service to ensure that there is appropriate court time available to deal with criminal business.
“The scheduling of trials is not an exact science and from time to time trials run longer than expected. We understand the concerns of the family and would be happy to meet with them again to discuss any concerns they may have.”