JAMES FERGUSON FROM STIRLING FREED EARLY DUE TO TERMINAL ILLNESS AFTER SEX ABUSE CASE
In a highly controversial decision, James Ferguson, a 65-year-old man from Stirling, was released from prison after serving only five months of a three-year sentence, sparking outrage among his victim and the wider community.Ferguson had been convicted of heinous sexual abuse against a young girl, beginning when she was just nine years old, and continuing over a period from May 2006 to October 2010.
His release was granted on compassionate grounds due to his terminal cancer diagnosis, with Ferguson himself pleading for early release, asserting that he had no more than a year to live.
The court, presided over by Sheriff Wyllie Robertson, considered his health condition but ultimately decided that a custodial sentence was necessary, citing the severity and duration of his crimes.
Ferguson’s solicitor, George Pollok, argued that his client was likely to undergo chemotherapy and emphasized his limited life expectancy, requesting leniency.
However, the victim, now 16 years old, expressed her profound distress and anger at the decision.
She described her feelings as “sick to my stomach” and voiced her belief that Ferguson should have remained incarcerated until his death.
She stated, “He should have been left to die in prison.
He robbed me of my childhood and I think about what he did to me every day.
Sometimes I just want to die.” Her family declined to comment publicly on the matter.
The case drew criticism from various political figures.
Margaret Mitchell, the Scottish Tory justice spokeswoman, remarked, “There are plenty of other prisoners not in the best of health and we can’t just open the doors and let them all out.” Meanwhile, Graeme Pearson, the Scottish Labour justice spokesman, emphasized that victims’ feelings should be central to such decisions, criticizing the tendency to treat victims’ concerns as secondary.
Ferguson’s case is not isolated; last year, another terminally ill sex offender, William Burns, also sought release on compassionate grounds.
Burns, who was suffering from throat cancer, had been imprisoned for abusing young girls and wrote to MP Charles Kennedy requesting help to be released so he could “die with dignity” in his home village of Muir of Ord, Easter Ross.
Burns’s case, along with others, highlights a pattern of prisoners with terminal illnesses being granted early release, raising ongoing debates about justice and compassion.
In April 2013, Ferguson was sentenced after admitting to the abuse.
The court rejected his plea to avoid prison, emphasizing the gravity and prolonged nature of his crimes.
The sheriff imposed a three-year sentence, which includes a period of supervision in the community if Ferguson is ever released again.
The court also mandated that Ferguson register as a sex offender, underscoring the seriousness of his offenses.
Ferguson’s family declined to comment on his release, and the case continues to evoke strong emotions among those affected by his crimes and the broader public debate about the ethics of compassionate release for terminally ill offenders.
