The defendant appealed against her conviction saying that the Sheriff’s admission of certain evidence was a breach of her human rights. A telephone call from prison had been intercepted (routinely), from which the police had anticipated the importation of drugs to the prison by the defendant.
Held: The interception was allowed under the 1989 Act, and the evidence properly admitted: ‘The telephone call was made by the prisoner from within the prison. It was monitored within the prison by an officer there. The prisoner had notice that any telephone call which he made from the prison telephone might be monitored, listened to and even tape recorded. There was no prohibition against his advising the recipient of his call of this fact.’
Judges:
Lord Justice Clerk And Lord Cameron Of Lochbroom And Lord Kirkwood
Citations:
[2003] ScotHC 5
Links:
Statutes:
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 4(3)(b), European Convention on Human Rights 8, Prisons (Scotland) Act 1989, Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Communication by Telephone)(Scotland) (No.2) Direction 1999
Scotland, Crime, Prisons, Human Rights
Updated: 07 June 2022; Ref: scu.181771
