Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement Lawyers have claimed that many violent criminals are not being charged because of a drive to reduce congestion in Scottish courts. The claim comes after doorman David Cantwell, 43, from Edinburgh, was headbutted by off-duty policeman Samuel Johnston, who was not prosecuted. Instead, he was told to pay his victim £250 compensation. Senior prosecutors said the decision not to bring Pc Johnston to court was within new parliament guidelines. Mr Cantwell, a father-of-two, was working on the door at an Edinburgh nightclub in February when he was approached by Pc Johnston and his friends. After being allowed into the club, they left again but returned and Mr Cantwell was attacked. Really the money's not the matter here. It's the fact the guy can get off with a fiscal fine

David Cantwell

Victim He told BBC Scotland: "I had my hands in my pocket, standing totally off my guard - the next minute this headbutt came from nowhere and struck me right on the lip. I had to get two stitches." Mr Cantwell said Pc Johnston then ran off so he grabbed one of his colleagues as a witness until the police arrived. The case did not go to court but was instead dealt with by the procurator fiscal. Pc Johnston, who had a clean record and was serving with Fife Constabulary, was ordered to pay Mr Cantwell compensation instead. After being suspended, then put onto restricted duties, Pc Johnston is now back on the beat. Mr Cantwell said: "It made it worse for me knowing he was a serving police officer, a trusted person by the public." New provisions He added: "Really the money's not the matter here. It's the fact the guy can get off with a fiscal fine. He's got no criminal record whatsoever and he's back with his police uniform on the next day." Catherine Dyer, a senior prosecutor at the Crown Office, said: "Parliament decided that in situations like that the procurator fiscal could look at it, take a decision about what the average fine would be and present it to the justice court which is where that case would have gone. "The average fine would have been £150. "We took the decision that under new provisions it would be appropriate for compensation to be paid to Mr Cantwell of £250, quickly and efficiently." Mr Cantwell said he had to receive stitches after the attack Gerry Considine, former president of the Glasgow Bar Association, said while there was a general acceptance that lower level crime should be transferred from the courts, there were fears about the use of fines. He said: "The difficulty seems to be the level of crime that is now being diverted from prosecution is causing great concern. In particular the level of violent crime which is no longer being prosecuted. "Justice has to be available for everyone, the accused and victims of crime. There has to be a balance struck between those two. "It's really a matter for public attention and public debate to decide on how we should deal with violent offenders or offenders of a level above the most minimal offence." Fife Constabulary said a senior officer was investigating the case.



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