SENTENCING STATEMENTS

A judge may decide to publish a statement after passing sentence on an offender in cases where there is particular public interest; where a case has legal significance; or where providing the reasons for the decision might assist public understanding.

Please note that statements may include graphic details of offences when it is necessary to fully explain the reasons behind a sentencing decision.

Once charges are spent, any statement in relation to them is removed and cannot be provided or acknowledged. Statements published before the launch of the website may be available on request. Please email judicialcomms@scotcourts.gov.uk.

The independence of the judiciary is essential to safeguard people’s rights under law - enabling judges to make decisions impartially based solely on evidence and law, without interference or influence from the government or politicians.

When deciding a sentence, a judge must deal with the offence that the offender has been convicted of, taking into account the unique circumstances of each particular case. The judge will carefully consider the facts that are presented to the Court by both the prosecution and by the defence.

For more information about how judges decide sentences; what sentences are available; and matters such as temporary release, see the independent Scottish Sentencing Council website .

Read more about victims of crime and sentencing.

HMA v Joshua Marky Stewart

Apr 2, 2026

At High Court in Glasgow, Lady Drummond sentenced Joshua Stewart after being convicted of assault to severe injury, permanent disfigurement, and danger to life (connected to serious crime). The offender was sentenced to three years and eight months imprisonment, reduced from five years six months because of an early guilty plea. The sentence was backdated to 25 February, and he will be supervised for 12 months following release.

Lady Drummond made the following comments in court:

"Mr Stewart you pled guilty to assaulting the complainer on 22 May 2025 while acting with others, by repeatedly striking him on the head and body with machetes or similar instruments to his severe injury, permanent disfigurement and to the danger of his life.

"This was a planned and violent crime carried out by one organised crime group on another in a well established feud between the two. You chose to drive the car to the scene with the three passengers armed with machetes and wearing balaclavas. The complainer suffered cuts and wounds on the top of his head, on his arms, shoulder and hands as well as a fracture of his arm and skull. The crime being connected with serious organised crime makes it a more serious one.

"Whilst you didn’t yourself assault the complainer you played an important role as driver of the car and you acted along with others in carrying out the assault. You must therefore share the responsibility for that along with the others involved.

"I have taken into account all that has been said on your behalf this morning by your lawyer and what is in the criminal justice and social work report. Your explanation is that you were put under pressure to be involved because of a drug debt and did not know the extent of what was planned.

"You are 21 now and were 20 at the date of the offence. The Scottish Sentencing Council Guidelines on Sentencing Young People apply. The full range of sentencing options remain open to the court but the nature and duration of the sentence for a younger person should be different to that imposed on an older person sentenced for the same offence. A sentence of imprisonment should only be imposed if no other sentence is appropriate. I should ensure that I have enough information to assess your maturity and identify the most appropriate sentence.

"I have a criminal justice and social work report which provides me with information about that. The author of the criminal justice report explains that you have had adverse childhood experiences. You have had health difficulties and engaged in substance misuse previously. You have one minor road traffic previous conviction. You are assessed as a moderate risk of reoffending.

"I have read the letter you have written to the court in which you apologise for your actions. I can see from that you are genuinely remorseful and also that you recognise the harm you have caused.

"I have had regard to your maturity and as a primary consideration, rehabilitation. Your age and level of maturity at the time of the offence reduces your culpability for the crime. But the harm suffered by the complainer was nonetheless very serious. Given the level of harm the only sentence appropriate is imprisonment.

"I impose a prison sentence of 5 and a half years and reduce that to 3 years and 8 months because of the stage you pled guilty. I apportion 6 months of that sentence to the serious crime aggravation. The sentence will be backdated to 25 February 2026 because of the periods you have already spent on remand. Because you complied with the requirements of a curfew order while on bail, 126 days of the sentence should be treated as having been served by you.

"I also impose a supervised release order for 12 months. That means on your release you will need to comply with conditions of your supervising officer for 12 months. If you don’t comply, you can be brought back to court for breaching the order and you can be returned to prison for a period of time, the maximum being the length of time the order still has to run from the date of the breach."

2 April 2026