William Frederick Ian Beggs For Judicial Review Of A Decision By The Scottish Ministers Dated 12 May 2017
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judge | Lord Clark |
| Neutral Citation | [2018] CSOH 72 |
| Date | 10 July 2018 |
| Docket Number | P746/17 |
| Court | Court of Session |
| Published date | 10 July 2018 |
OUTER HOUSE, COURT OF SESSION
[2018] CSOH 72
P746/17
OPINION OF LORD CLARK
In the petition of
WILLIAM FREDERICK IAN BEGGS
Petitioners
for judicial review of a decision by the Scottish Ministers dated 12 May 2017
Petitioner: Campbell QC; Drummond Miller LLP
Respondents: D Hamilton; Scottish Government Legal Directorate
10 July 2018
Introduction
[1] The petitioner is currently serving a prison sentence in HM Prison, Edinburgh. On
12 May 2017, the deputy governor of the prison issued a decision letter refusing the petitioner’s
request for permission to purchase a laptop computer for his own possession and use in the
prison. In this petition for judicial review, the petitioner seeks reduction of that decision. The
grounds upon which reduction is sought are, firstly, that the decision was irrational, secondly,
that the Scottish Prison Service (“the SPS”) failed to take account of relevant factors, and,
thirdly, that the decision infringed the petitioner’s rights under Article 8 of the European
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“ECHR”). The
Scottish Ministers, who are responsible for the actions of the SPS, are the respondents,
2
Background
[2] On 12 October 2001, the petitioner was convicted of murder. He was sentenced to life
imprisonment with a punishment part of 20 years (the period to be served before an application
for parole can be made). The sentence was backdated to 20 December 1999, when he was first
detained in custody in respect of the charge. He has been in HM Prison, Edinburgh since
15 March 2013. Earlier parts of his sentence were served in HM Prison, Peterhead, HM Prison,
Glenochil, and HM Prison, Shotts.
[3] The petitioner has requested access to a laptop computer of his own on a number of
occasions since around 2008. The petitioner has indicated that he would meet the cost of
purchasing the laptop. The basis upon which the requests were made were that the use of a
laptop is necessary for (i) correspondence in connection with legal matters, the petitioner being
involved in a number of such matters; (ii) management of documents in connection with those
matters, in terms of access, use and storage; and (iii) the continued pursuit of educational
interests which the petitioner has pursued on a number of occasions during his period in
prison.
[4] In a previous petition for judicial review, the petitioner raised the issue of the refusal by
the respondents to accede to his request for permission to purchase a laptop for his possession
and use in prison. On 2 November 2016, Lord Malcolm granted decree of reduction of
decisions to refuse access: Beggs, petitioner [2016] CSOH 153. Following upon Lord Malcolm’s
decision, and having regard to the reasons for it, a meeting took place at the prison on
31 January 2017, attended by the petitioner, the deputy governor of the prison, and two others.
The purpose of the meeting was to afford the petitioner an opportunity to explain why he
requires access to a laptop computer, and why the prison laptop loan scheme would not be an
effective alternative. The petitioner prepared his own record of what was discussed at the
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William Frederick Ian Beggs For Judicial Review Of A Decision Of The Parole Board For Scotland Dated 8 January 2020
...senior counsel drew my attention to what was said by Lord Clark in a previous case involving the petitioner – Beggs v Scottish Ministers [2018] CSOH 72 at paragraph 37: “37. In Tesco Stores Ltd v Secretary of State for the Environment [1995] 1 WLR 759 , Lord Keith stated (764G-H) that: ‘… i......