SNP MSP for Glasgow Sandra White has welcomed the news that the Victim Notification Scheme, which currently applies to offenders sentenced to four years or more is to be extended to those sentenced to 18 months or more.

This will result in a three fold increase in the number of victims being informed of:

• The date of release of the offender

• Being told if the offender dies in custody before release
  

• Any transfer outwith Scotland
  

• The escape or absconding from custody

• Eligibility for temporary release

Commenting on the changes announced Sandra White, MSP for Glasgow, said: "I welcome this announcement by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill which will see over 2,000 victims of crime benefit for too long victims have had to find out the hard way that the person convicted of a crime against them has been set free and for some the realisation that they may meet face to face in the same street or town is horrendous and unbearable.

"This will also serve to ensure that recent high profile cases such as those of Martin Cusick will not be repeated something which has so shocked us all.

"This step and the commitment to roll out across Scotland the national victim statement scheme, which gives victims the chance to tell the court about the physical and emotional impact a crime has had on them, will I hope reassure victims of crime that their views and needs are being taken into account."