Kirkcudbright graveyard vandal sentence delayed
A sheriff has criticised prison officials after deferring sentence for a second time on two men who vandalised a south of Scotland cemetery in June.
Alexander McIntosh, 19, of Dumfries, and Christopher Frost, 22, of Dalbeattie, admitted damaging 47 headstones at Kirkcudbright Cemetery.
Sheriff Kenneth Robb contacted Dumfries Prison to find out why McIntosh had failed to meet with a social worker.
He said that without a reply he would delay sentence again "with regret".
Sentence was deferred on the pair last month and the governor of Dumfries Prison asked to explain why McIntosh had failed to appear at a meeting with a social worker.
However, Kirkcudbright Sheriff Court was told that there had been no reply from the prison and the teenager's agent David Finnie said he had also failed to get a response to a letter.
The sheriff said: "The difficulty is that the matter could have a significant impact on the disposal of this case.
"I intend to have an answer one way or the other - I don't think justice can be properly dealt with without this information.
"You would have thought the prison would be able to respond to this matter."
He added that the prison had a responsibility to "assist in the administration of justice".
"It is with regret that I have to defer sentence again," he said.
The sheriff deferred sentence on the pair for another two weeks.