Welcome to the first Amicus Curiae newsletter about some of the cases and culture at Dumbarton Sheriff Court and beyond. Reports from the sheriffdom cover crimes and people from Helensburgh and Lomond east through Clydebank and the western edge of Glasgow.
"You're 51. 51. And you're behaving like this in a shop? It's not good enough is it."
Sheriff John McElroy KC started in Dumbarton last month and made his remand court debut with some pointed lines to those in the dock.
He was a founding partner of the Paisley solicitors firm McCusker McElroy and Gallanagh so knows more than a bit about those facing justice.
Dumbarton Sheriff Court has seen a number of visiting sheriffs since long-time resident William Gallacher retired at the end of March.
Sometimes that has meant the more serious solemn cases get moved around on a given day to a sheriff who can deal with them.
Sheriff McElroy, like Sheriff Maxwell Hendry and Sheriff Frances McCartney, can deal with both summary and solemn cases.
He told the 51-year-old woman, who had threatened to slash a shop worker, that he didn't want to see her again. But that was up to her.
Call it tough love, call it a carrot-and-stick approach to justice, the courts have to weigh up the nature of a crime, previous convictions, a person's background and many more factors.
Of the 24 criminal complaints I saw for July 1, six were for domestic abuse. Each of these will be unique.
A woman in Old Kilpatrick was left with half her hair "saturated" with blood after an attack by her then partner. Her 10-year-old child screamed for him to stop as he stomped on her head. It was neighbours who called the police, hearing the child's pleas.
Sheriff McElroy called it a "disgraceful offence" from Craig Lawlor, who pleaded guilty on July 1.
It is also common crime, especially in West Dunbartonshire, with one of the worst domestic violence rates in Scotland.
Addiction is the other repeat offender in the court.
Take, for example, the case of Liam Robson. He's now on his THIRD driving ban for having been unfit through drink or drugs.
Only aged 24, he'll be off the roads until he's nearly 30 now. This time for being nearly 15 TIMES the legal limit for the metabolite of cocaine when he crashed into a couple bollards.
When you're a court reporter, you get used to the resident sheriffs, their styles, mannerisms, expressions. And their approaches to dealing with criminals.
There are the laws set by parliament, then the sentencing guidelines.
Ultimately sheriffs have to come up with a "disposal" for a case that meets those requirements, AND that imposes both a carrot and stick. A criminal has to be punished, but also induced, in theory, not to do it again.
One of the accused in the remand court had four separate cases against them. There are some with even more. Anytime someone breaks a court bail order, it creates another case. And another court appearance.
Sheriff McElroy is going to see some people in the docks of Dumbarton again and again. He only makes the sentences. What comes next is up to others - including the criminals.