Labour’s far north candidate has warned that Scotland’s justice system is at “breaking point,” citing mounting pressure across courts and prisons.
Eva Kestner said that a Labour government at Holyrood would "get police back on the front line" and denounced the SNP's "soft-touch approach to justice."
She warned:
“Crime is on the rise and too many people across the Highlands have been left feeling unsafe.”
The Scottish Government objected to her remarks, claiming that communities are feeling safer and that reported crime has decreased by half since 1991.
Ms. Kestner, who will run for Labour's Caithness, Sutherland, and Ross seat in this year's Scottish Parliament election, enumerated a number of grievances against the SNP's justice record.
According to her, there was a 21% spike in violent crime in the Highlands between 2021 and 2025, and 11% of residents in the area acknowledged that they felt insecure strolling after dark.
According to Ms. Kestner, hundreds of drug dealers in Scotland were either arrested or had their cases dropped.
“Every single part of our justice system has been pushed to breaking point by this dangerously incompetent SNP government,”
Ms Kestner said.
“People deserve to feel safe in their homes and in their communities.
This year we have a direct choice between a third decade of SNP chaos or a safer Scotland with Scottish Labour.
In just four months we have a chance to call time on the SNP’s soft-touch approach to justice, restore community policing and make our streets safer.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said:
“The reality is that Scotland continues to be a safe place to live, with recorded crime down by half since 1991, homicide levels at their lowest ever recorded level and people feeling safer in their communities.
Record Scottish Government funding enabled Police Scotland to take on more recruits in the last financial year than at any time since 2013, the number of outstanding criminal trials has fallen by over 65 per cent since January 2022 and robust action is being taken to safely manage the prison population.”
A Scottish Labour government will get police back on the front line where they belong and give every ward across the Highlands a dedicated community police officer.
She cited statistics that showed 180 Scottish police stations have closed since 2013, and the number of police personnel in Scotland had decreased by more than 870.
She noted that hundreds of inmates, including violent offenders, had been released early in order to alleviate overcrowding, and that Scotland's jail population had reached record highs.
According to the most recent Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, which was released in June 2025, overall property and violent crime rates have decreased by over one-third since 2008–09.
Three-quarters of respondents said they felt safe strolling alone in their neighborhood after dark, up from two-thirds.
What evidence supports prison services being at crisis point?
Scotland's captivity service faces severe strain, with multiple pointers attesting a extremity point as described by captivity officers and sanctioned reports.
The captivity population exceeded 8,400 convicts by late 2025, surpassing functional capacity limits and functional capacity of installations designed for smaller, leading to exigency measures like early releases for over to 1,000 low- threat captures. This marks record highs, with protrusions showing sustained pressure into 2026 despite new shapes.
Captivity officers report critical understaffing, described as a" ticking time lemon" for safety, with high sickness absence and development rates hindering governance delivery and adding violence pitfalls. The Scottish Courts and Bars Service business plan acknowledges reclamation challenges amid rising demand.