The story of the Scotsman who won't face trial is certainly astonishing. This visitor was accused of a string of offences in North and East Yorkshire, but appears to have escaped justice thanks to a legal loophole.

Somewhere between England and Scotland, a border was crossed - not just that dividing the two countries but another, unseen border indicating the line of common sense. For how can it be right that a Scotsman can be accused of assorted offences and yet never appear in court because of a legal difference of opinion between England and Scotland?

Scotland is proud of its own jurisdiction, proud of its separateness - especially so now after devolution. Nothing at all wrong with that - but there is something seriously amiss when someone from Scotland is alleged to have committed offences here but cannot be tried because of a legal discrepancy.

The Scotsman, who is not being named for legal reasons, is alleged to have committed a number of offences, including making off without payment from a filling station in Fridaythorpe, and also leaving a Malton hotel without settling his bill. He was also accused of similar offences said to have been committed in Chester, and of two motoring offences: driving while disqualified and using a vehicle without insurance.

While it is true that none of these alleged offences is particularly grave, added up they do amount to something serious, and it defies sense that no case can be brought.

The legal complication here is that the man was interviewed in Scotland by police from North Yorkshire, who had travelled across the border in pursuit of the case. The Crown Prosecution Service decreed that such an interview was not valid, as the suspect should have been brought back to England for the interview.

North Yorkshire police believed that they were operating within the remit of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994, which improves cross-border co-operation. It appears that the Act did not offer them the support they believed, and so now the case will not be heard at Malton court.

This is unsatisfactory in every direction, and leaves the matter unresolved.

It is time England and Scotland sorted out their legal differences.

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