Two appointments to Scottish Sentencing Council

Two new members have been appointed to the Scottish Sentencing Council, as a lay and constable member respectively.

Dr Hannah Graham has been appointed as a lay member, replacing Professor Neil Hutton. A senior lecturer in criminology at the Scottish Centre for Crime & Justice Research at the University of Stirling, she has previously worked as a criminologist at the University of Tasmania in Australia.

She is also a textbook author and editor, an editor of the European Journal of Probation, and a member of the national council for the Scottish Association for the Study of Offending (SASO). In 2017-18 she was part of a team of researchers to conduct an independent review of the Aberdeen Problem Solving Approach, which specialises in working with people with complex needs and a long history of offending.

Deputy Chief Constable Will Kerr OBE has been appointed constable member, replacing Iain Livingstone, Chief Constable of Police Scotland. Now Deputy Chief Constable for Local Policing after joining Police Scotland in September 2018, he served in Northern Ireland for 27 years before moving to the National Crime Agency in January 2017. He was awarded the OBE for services to policing and the community, in 2015.

Both new members have been appointed for a five year term until December 2024.

Welcoming them, Lady Dorrian, the Lord Justice Clerk, who chairs the council, said: “Their knowledge and expertise will be invaluable to the council over the next few years as we continue our ambitious work programme and look towards developing our next business plan.

“Next year will be a busy and exciting time for the council as we get set to launch a public consultation on the sentencing of young people, respond to the recent consultation on the draft sentencing process guideline, and continue to develop guidelines on death by driving and sexual offences.”