Do fifty, get one month less

Sheriff Richard Davidson of Dundee, who has come previously to the notice of Scots Law News (see here and here) rewarded the recidivism of a serial shoplifter on 26 November 2008 with a 25% discount on his jail sentence. 

John Barrie Hendry had admitted stealing £30 worth of shampoo from the Lochee branch of Boots, his fiftieth conviction for such offences.  Sheriff Davidson said this “merits a special award of some sort, so I’ll make it three months jail instead of the four I had intended to give you.

Mr Hendry is aged 35, so has plenty of time to make his century and get that lifetime achievement award.  Sheriff Davidson, of course, was our Sheriff of the Year in 2004.