05-04-2023, 12:50 PM
BY JADE BIGGS PUBLISHED: 04 APRIL 2023
A Scottish man convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl when he was 17 has avoided a prison sentence under new laws.
Sean Hogg (now 21) raped the teen in Dalkeith Country Park, Midlothian, on a number of occasions between March and June 2018.
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Hogg was found guilty by a jury, but at a sentencing hearing this week, he was ordered to do 270 hours of unpaid work, rather than being handed a custodial sentence.
It's all to do with recently introduced guidelines in Scotland, which have changed how under-25s are sentenced. Under the new guidelines, which were brought in in January 2022, rehabilitation must be a primary consideration rather than punishment, and judges are advised to take into account the offender's life experiences.
At Hogg's sentencing hearing, Judge Lord Lake described rape as "one of the most serious crimes", but pointed out how the new guidelines had impacted his sentence.
"For this offence, if committed by an adult over 25, you attract a sentence of four or five years," he told the court, explaining that after considering Hogg's "liability" and "age as a factor" he determined that a prison sentence was not "appropriate".
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/...n-new-law/
A Scottish man convicted of raping a 13-year-old girl when he was 17 has avoided a prison sentence under new laws.
Sean Hogg (now 21) raped the teen in Dalkeith Country Park, Midlothian, on a number of occasions between March and June 2018.
......
Hogg was found guilty by a jury, but at a sentencing hearing this week, he was ordered to do 270 hours of unpaid work, rather than being handed a custodial sentence.
It's all to do with recently introduced guidelines in Scotland, which have changed how under-25s are sentenced. Under the new guidelines, which were brought in in January 2022, rehabilitation must be a primary consideration rather than punishment, and judges are advised to take into account the offender's life experiences.
At Hogg's sentencing hearing, Judge Lord Lake described rape as "one of the most serious crimes", but pointed out how the new guidelines had impacted his sentence.
"For this offence, if committed by an adult over 25, you attract a sentence of four or five years," he told the court, explaining that after considering Hogg's "liability" and "age as a factor" he determined that a prison sentence was not "appropriate".
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/...n-new-law/
