Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were intimated from Councillors Mary-Jean Devon, Roderick McCuish and Sandy Taylor.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.  He referred to a request from Police Scotland that the Committee take into consideration alternatives to prosecution which were considered “spent” in terms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.  Prior to considering the merits of the Application the Committee must determine whether or not they consider the spent alternatives to prosecution should be admitted, it being noted that the Committee may take into consideration evidence relating to such matters where they are satisfied that justice cannot be done except by admitting such evidence.  The Chair explained the procedure that would be followed in this respect and invited the Police to address the question of relevancy of the spent alternatives to prosecution to the Application.

 

Police

 

Sergeant Quinn advised that the Chief Constable considered that justice could not be done without disclosing the spent alternatives to prosecution as the offences were recent and one of them related to public disorder.

 

Applicant’s Representative

 

Mr McEachern advised that he did not think the first offence was relevant but could understand why the second one would be and confirmed that he had no objection to the second offence being disclosed.

 

The Committee agreed that the spent alternatives to prosecution be taken into consideration in the determination of this Application as they believed that it was important to have all information before them to enable them to make an informed decision.

 

The Chair then outlined the hearing procedure that would be followed and invited the Applicant’s representative to speak in support of the Application.

 

Applicant’s Representative

 

Mr McEachern explained that he was here to represent his son who was unable to attend due to work commitments.  He advised that it was his fault that the convictions had not been disclosed on the Application form as he had filled out the form on behalf of his son.  He confirmed that his son had signed the form.  He referred to the spent alternatives to prosecution and explained why the first offence, which had taken place in March 2013, had occurred.  He also explained the nature of the second offence which had taken place in February 2014.  He advised that the report by the Chief Constable made it look like his son was the only person involved.  He stated that the incident had involved a large number of youths who had all received fixed penalty fines.  He advised that he believed that at least 12 tickets were issued by the Police on that occasion.

 

Mr McEachern referred to his son’s Application which had been submitted as he wanted to support his son in getting on and that he hoped that he would be able to assist him with his taxi driving business.  He referred to the offence which occurred in April 2014 and noted that the Chief Constable’s letter advised that his son had been found guilty.  He stated that his son had not been found guilty and that his son had plead guilty and had been charged accordingly.

 

Questions from the Police

 

Sergeant Quinn sought and received clarification from Mr McEachern that his son had signed his Application form for a Taxi Driver Licence.

 

When asked Mr McEachern advised that he did not believe the incidents were all alcohol related and stated that his son very rarely drank alcohol now.

 

Police

 

Sergeant Quinn confirmed that the Chief Constable objected to the granting of a Taxi Driver Licence to Mr McEachern as he was of the opinion that he was not a fit and proper person to be the holder of this Licence.  He read out the nature of the offence which took place in April 2014 and resulted in Mr McEachern being found guilty of Assault to Injury and being issued with a fine and compensation order.  He confirmed that the Applicant had failed to disclose his conviction on his Application form and had been issued a standard warning letter.  Sergeant Quinn also read out the details of the 2 spent alternatives to prosecution.

 

Questions from Applicant’s Representative

 

Mr McEachern referred to the Court Case held in December 2014 following the incident which took place in April 2014 and advised that no photographic evidence was produced and sought confirmation that this meant there was no proof that the injured male had suffered bruising.   Sergeant Quinn confirmed no evidence was presented as Mr McEachern had pleaded guilty to the offence of assault to injury as it had been libelled. 

 

Members’ Questions

 

Councillor Trail sought and received confirmation from Mr McEachern that his son was not in attendance at the hearing as he had been unable to get time off work.

 

Councillor Currie sought and received clarification from Sergeant Quinn on the difference between a fixed penalty fine issued by Police Officers and a fine issued by the Procurator Fiscal.

 

Councillor Freeman referred to the Police saying that all three incidents involved alcohol and asked Mr McEachern if this was correct.  Mr McEachern acknowledged that this may have been the case.

 

Councillor Freeman also referred to the incident which took place in March 2013 and asked when the hall had closed.  Mr McEachern replied 1 am.

 

Councillor Blair referred to Mr McEachern’s court case and asked was his Application for a Taxi Driver Licence not a bit premature.  Mr McEachern advised that this was to enable his son to take responsibility for getting on with his life.

 

Councillor Colville asked what Mr McEachern’s son had done since he left school and what his life was like when the incident took place in April 2014.  He also asked if his son would be working full time or part time as a Taxi Driver.

 

Mr McEachern referred to his son working for him on his fishing boat until this was sold and to securing a job with one of the local distilleries.  He advised that until he started work with the distillery he had struggled to get a job and had been frustrated which he acknowledged was no excuse  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.