Karyn Mccluskey

Scotland’s increasingly severe wildfires are placing additional pressure on stretched fire services and threatening vulnerable ecosystems and communities. Drawing on California’s long-running voluntary programme, Karyn McCluskey argues that suitable low-risk prisoners could receive training and work alongside firefighters on vegetation clearance, firebreak maintenance and wildfire response. She acknowledges the risks of exploitation and unsafe conditions, but maintains that strong safeguards, fair treatment and genuine choice could combine effective wildfire prevention with skills development and reduced reoffending.

Scotland has introduced domestic homicide and suicide reviews under the Criminal Justice Modernisation and Abusive Domestic Behaviour Reviews (Scotland) Act 2025, ending its status as the only UK nation without a domestic homicide review model. The independent reviews will examine cases involving known or suspected domestic abuse, identify missed opportunities and systemic failures, and bring together expertise from policing, health, social work and other sectors without assigning blame. Their effectiveness will depend on whether lessons are shared, recommendations implemented, and services improve their responses to danger signs such as separation, strangulation, stalking, coercive control, weapons access and new relationships.

A violent machete injury to a child is used to illustrate how service cuts and deprivation create conditions where violence becomes a parallel social order. Youth and family support systems are described as crucial to preventing harm, with reductions in social, educational and community resources shifting costs to healthcare and criminal justice. The piece argues that belonging, purpose and meaningful work are essential to divert young people from violence, highlighting the gap between proven preventative measures and what society is willing to fund.