Source, Daily Record online.

Therapy? I`d have wrung her neck.....


Yob avoids jail to undergo bizarre eye psychotherpay
Nov 28 2008 By Mark Howarth

A DRUNKEN yob walked free from court because social workers claimed eye exercises will make her behave better.

ASBO pest Alana Searle, 22, threatened to smash up apolice station and stab officers with a corkscrew.

But a sheriff gave her bail so she could continue her eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy, where patients look at moving objects to help them cope with stressful memories.

The decision to spare Searle, from Alloa, Clackmannanshire, sparked outrage last night.

Tory justice spokesman Bill Aitken said: "This woman could just as easily have kept her eyes onmoving objects from behind a set of prison bars.

"I find it surprising that bail was granted in this case given her appalling record."

Alloa Sheriff Court heard how Searle was nicked last week for breaching an ASBO forbidding her to shout, swear or act aggressively in the town.

She lost her temper at the local police station when told a particular officer she wanted to see was off duty.

Mike McMahon, prosecuting, said Searle ranted: "I'm going to go f***ing bush. I've had nine Stellas, two Buckfasts and don't give a f**k."

When cops tried to calm her down, Searle said: "I was just thinking I'm going to smash all these windaes."

Pointing to a corkscrew she was holding, she added: "I wonder if I could stab someone with this."

Searle was ordered out after shouting: "I swear to God, I'm going to go f***ing mental."

And she was arrested when she came back in with a bottle of Buckfast.

Sheriff Valerie Johnston said a "quick look" through Searle's criminal record made it hard to give her bail.

But a social work report said: "If Miss Searle is remanded, we are not going to be able to proceed with the treatment."

Her solicitor, Stan Quirk, said: "She has the opportunity of giving this a shot."

Searle admitted acting in an aggressive manner and was set free until she is sentenced next week for the offence on November 19.

Labour community safety spokesman Paul Martin said later: "I have sympathy for people who need therapy.

However, a sheriff's primary duty is to protect the public.

"You can't have community safety when there are serial offenders posing a threat to local communities.

"Sheriffs should think twice before being lenient."