Twins of Evil; Irvine Sisters, Clair and Louise Smith steal their gran’s £8k life savings, their disgusted family members call on Sheriff Alistair Watson to put them in jail for their crime, if and when the prison door closes on them the twins will have a long time to reflect that they didn't just destroy their family, they also destroyed their own lives, and for a measly £4,000 each, if Sheriff McFarlane judged their case, their jail cell would already be getting made ready for them

Dear All 

Time for a song, a bit of singing to lift your heart during these depressingly hard times, and if you're going to sing, what better than something everyone can join in with, are you ready? 

Ye canny shove yer grannie aff a bus
Ye canny shove yer grannie aff a bus
Ye canny shove yer grannie
Cause she's yer mammie's mammie
Ye canny shove yer grannie aff a bus. 

Grannies where would we all be without them? 

Granny looking after the weans, giving them sweeties, feeding them up big dinners, wiping their arses, if required, when mum is back at her career toiling away. Aren't they just super duper, and they do like their grand kids, spoil them rotten, they do. So, when a granny is abused, the public mood is stirred, doesn't matter whose granny it is, the public have no truck with demanding severe justice. In Scotland, we are living through an age of un-enlightenment because there is an SNP Government, standards have fallen, and although it is unacceptable, some people still sink to the level of pond life. 

Two such people are Clair and Louise Smith, 25 years old, twin sisters but already a pair of disgusting individuals. The 'twins of evil' have only gone and robbed their grandparents' of their life savings. They managed to get access to their grandparents' money by offering to run errands for them, once got access, they made off with £8000 between them. If you split that two ways, £4,000 each, so the question is, was it worth it? Was the joy of stealing worth breaking up their family, was the heart break caused thought about? At 25 years old, these aren't silly little girls, they are women, you have to laugh at their lawyer saying these pair of arseholes have 'learning difficulties', how many times has that line been spun in a court as a variation of not right in the heid? 

At the end of the first Natalie McGarry Criminal Trial where she plead guilty, there was apparently 'tears' and her lawyer saying she wasn't right in the heid. After carefully listening to this, the Sheriff decided to bang her anyway. A bit of jail time may still be possible when McGarry gets her re-trial, I don't see having pumped out weans as mitigation working for her, after all, did do Tommy Sheridan any good when he was found guilty. Round two of the McGarry affair starts in November in Glasgow Sheriff Court. 

Fingers crossed that justice will be done this time! 

You have to wonder what the rest of the family make of the 'twins of evil', what we do know, so far is that their relatives are disgusted by their actions, and quite rightly are calling for jail time. As it stands, looking at the merits of the case, I wouldn't be surprised that the Sheriff doesn't decide to hit them with a 12 month sentence, plus an order that they pay back the money. As with many when the twins got to court, they decided to throw in the towel and admit their guilt, this was done because the law allows those who do so to get a reduced sentence for not wanting the Court's time. This is the route that ex SNP MP Natalie McGarry took when she did her first criminal trial, will she do the same thing again, well, keep and an eye open for that when her re-trial starts. 

Seeing that they didn't have a leg to stand on, the twins copped a plea of guilty to knocking off £8k in 5 weeks, if they card hadn't been checked by another relative, would the 'twins of evil' kept going? The lure of easy money and to them it was all free and flowing and there for the taking. Although this crime happen in Irvine, Ayrshire, this is a tale that could have happened anywhere in Scotland. Crawford Pirrie, 73, and wife Marlene, 75 didn't deserve what happened to them, Crawford's daughter said she would never forgiven them and who can blame her. Her dad had married the twins’ gran before the twins were born, so he had no idea what future family he was marrying into, and to add to his troubles, he had suffered a stroke just before the twins robbed him off his savings. 

Crawford’s daughter Lyndsey Brown said:

“Their actions have broken this family apart. They are highly manipulative and they didn’t do this to two strangers – they did this to their own grandparents. I hope they go to jail. They are a threat to the elderly and the vulnerable.”

I think Lyndsey is right, jail is where these two charmers belong, and the prison service has room for them. Of course in a post jail world, these two people will now be notorious, they robbed their grandparents, jobs and relationships with decent people might be hard to find. And if there were in front of Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane, well I would put a bet on Liz jailing them but sadly it's Alistair Watson. That said, it seems that Sheriff Watson has called for Criminal Justice Social Work and Restriction of Liberty Order Assessment reports to be prepared. This is apparently done to assess someone ahead of sentencing. The twins return to Court later in the year and Watson made a point of ordering them to appear at the next hearing.

So maybe a Xmas behind bars is in the offing?

Before we get ahead of ourselves here, we have to look at mitigation, this comes into play post verdict by the accused lawyers. Post Guilty verdict allows a lawyer a window to tell the most amazing horseshit on behalf of their client even if it isn't true. Victims of the crime have no avenue to challenge this which I feel should be part of the legal process. This is a flaw in law which should be corrected but for some reason everyone just sweeps past it as they consider a guilty verdict as 'job done'.

Surely lying to get a lesser sentence should be a crime?

Defence solicitor advocate Simon Brown representing said:

“They are both now pleading guilty to the charge and an agreed sum of £8000. They are both girls with some vulnerabilities, it could be said, and some learning difficulties.”

Well, this to me look pretty weak, Simon isn't exactly 'pushing the boat out' here with fantasy tales of sorrow being brought up in rain lashed Irvine, vulnerabilities and some learning difficulties, well they seem to be able to operate modern tech. They also seem to understand right from wrong, and they also understand copping a plea. How disadvantaged could they possibly be?

It seems that there are those in society that have no problem 'throwing their granny aff a bus' but what does that say about the callous world we live in. If you can't trust your relatives and friends, who can you trust? When the chips are down you know who your friends are, as one Alex Salmond found out, but no matter where you are on the social ladder, betrayal isn't restricted by status.

Finally, 4 months ago, something happened to me which caused me to revaluate a friendship, it was something along the lines of trust. After it happened, I just never got back in contact with the person, and won't be in their company again. You see, life is too short for regret or having negativity in it, something we should all know but until it hits you in the face, you are blissfully unaware. What the 'twins of evil' done is yet to fully sink in with them, they destroyed their family and ruined their lives, and for a measly £4,000 each to be spent on what drink, dresses, parties and fancy goods? One thing which I remember from a friend when he was robbed, was him saying something profound, he said he has gotten off cheap. It may not seem it but  Crawford Pirrie, 73, and his wife, Marlene got off cheap as well, and they found out who their real family are.

Yours sincerely

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University