Roseanna Cunningham, the SNP's justice spokeswoman, said: "It is time we stopped dealing out extra punishment to people who are poor. It is time we stopped overcrowding our jails with people who are there simply because they are too poor to pay their fines."

She said this as new statistics show up to 40% of people in prison are their for defaulting on fines for VERY minor issues. They then could not pay the fines as they had no cash and so ended up in what is effectively a paupers prison, similar to those Charles Dickens hated so much!

This in an RICH country being drained of its life blood , pride and hope by London (Westminster). Merry Christmas, bah humbug.