IN PARLIAMENT, my colleagues and I spend a lot of time discussing high profile crimes. However, we rarely discuss anti-social behaviour, which can have a major impact on the quality of peoples’ lives; the cohesion of their communities and the amenity of the spaces in which they live.

THIS WEEK saw the publication of Lord Bracadale’s “Independent Review of Hate Crime Legislation in Scotland”.

Really pleased with my column for The Press and Journal on Friday. I talk about police numbers and challenges, the AWPR bill and the #FinnsLawpetition for Finnforchange . Have a read, see what you think and sign the petition!!

A LITTLE under two years ago, PC Dave Wardell and his police dog, Finn, were chasing a robbery suspect when he turned and attacked them with a knife. Finn leapt to defend PC Wardell sustaining several serious stab wounds to the head and chest. One of the cuts punctured a lung.

NICOLA STURGEON’S 2017/18 Programme for Government committed her Government to increasing the current presumption against jail terms of 3-months to 12-months, on the basis that short sentences simply do not ‘work’: that short sentences do little to rehabilitate or prevent reoffending.

THERE HAS BEEN a great deal of negative focus recently on the effectiveness of shorter prison sentences – but what if that criticism is misdirected against a failure of prison itself, and instead should be refocussed to how short sentences are being administered?

THE WAY Nicola Sturgeon talks about criminals sentenced to several months in prison, you’d think every single one of them was merely a victim of circumstance.

FEMALE Genital Mutilation, commonly known as FGM, is a barbaric practice. We cannot allow political or cultural sensitivities to mask that simple fact. Nor can we allow them to get in the way of eradicating this terrible form of child abuse.

LIFE should mean life. Except it doesn’t. Not in Scotland.

Here, our judges do not have the tool of a whole-life order at their disposal; judges cannot ensure Scotland's worst criminals will never be released from prison.

Below is Liam's latest article for ThinkScotland.org on the Offensive Behaviour At Football Act and why it should be repealed. You can find the article here.