Victims of crime and bereaved relatives have called on First Minister John Swinney to tighten bail conditions for men accused of attacking women and to abandon plans for earlier release of long-term prisoners, amid mounting concern that Scotland's justice system is too lenient. The pressure came as Swinney faced MSPs on Tuesday and reiterated his pledge to show "personal leadership" in tackling what he called an "epidemic of violence against women and girls" in Scotland.

Sean Hunter, whose sister Stacy Hunter, 35, was murdered by her husband Jim Mair while he was on bail for attacking her, demanded immediate tightening of bail rules and a domestic violence perpetrators' register. Liz Shanks, who endured three years of abuse from a former partner, criticised the justice system as favouring perpetrators and urged the government to scrap proposals allowing long-term prisoners, including sex offenders and domestic abusers, to be released after two-thirds of their sentence. Swinney announced that regulations permitting GPS monitoring of bail suspects, including those accused of domestic abuse, would be introduced before the October recess, with a pilot scheme launching in Tayside, central Scotland and Fife next year.