KILMARNOCK'S most controversial legal mind, Sheriff David Smith, yesterday propelled himself into the headlines again, this time over the issue of female violence.
The sheriff, who once sang two versions of The Sash from the bench, yesterday ap- peared to infringe the bounds of political correctness when he addressed Kilmarnock Sheriff Court in a case of a 17-year-old girl charged with assault.
''I and other sheriffs are getting alarmed at the rise in violence by females,'' he told Agnes Stewart, of Caprington Avenue, Kilmarnock. ''Once they were regarded as the weaker sex.''
Stewart admitted that in October last year she attacked a teenage girl.
The court heard that the girl and a 13-year-old friend were returning home from a disco at 11pm when they met Stewart.
The argument which followed ended with Stewart, then 16, pulling the girl to the ground by her hair, banging her head off the pavement, and kicking and punching her as she lay on the ground.
A defence solicitor said his client had been drinking.
On hearing that Stewart was on bail awaiting sentence on another assault charge, Sheriff Smith deferred sentence and asked for background reports.
Earlier this week, Sheriff Smith's remarks in another case caused comment outside his court after he called two accused ''punters'', said they were ''murder'' and claimed most pled guilty only at the last minute.
An unnamed defence solicitor said: ''This should be reported. You won't hear this kind of thing in any court in the country.''
In The Sash incident, which occurred in 1985, evidence had been given in an assault trial that the victim had been singing a version of the sectarian song. Sheriff Smith asked the accused to sing it and when he refused, Sheriff Smith insisted, saying it was vital for evidence, before singing two versions himself.
On appeal, Sheriff Smith was criticised by the Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Ross, who said: ''A judge must also preserve the dignity of his court and his calling.''
Also in 1985, Sheriff Smith landed in hot water over remarks he allegedly made about striking miners at a social gathering. The alleged comments later came back to haunt him.
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