Council essay competition winner meets Lord Justice Clerk

A high school pupil from Dumfries has been awarded first prize in a Scottish Sentencing Council essay competition.

Lia Dymkovska, a S4 pupil at Dumfries High School, was presented with an award and certificate by the Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Beckett, Scotland’s second most senior judge, during a visit to Parliament House in Edinburgh on 9 March.

The 15-year-old submitted an essay answering the question ‘Is sentencing in Scotland fair?’, with her submission picked as the winner from numerous entries from schools across Scotland. The competition was run in partnership with the Modern Studies Association.

As well as meeting the Lord Justice Clerk, Lia was presented with £100 and received a tour of Parliament House, visiting the High Court of Appeal and the historic Parliament Hall.

Chair of the Council Lord Beckett said: “It was a pleasure to meet Lia and personally congratulate her on her successful entry.

“Lia’s well-written essay was an intelligent and socially aware look at sentencing, which considered issues such as prison capacity, perceptions of leniency in sentencing and geographical inconsistencies in rehabilitative programmes. The thought and effort put into writing the article was clear.

“I would like to extend my thanks to the Modern Studies Association and to everyone who took part in the competition, with a special mention to our five runners up who also submitted thoughtful and interesting essays.”

The runners up were:

Nandhana Dhinakar, Kelvinside Academy

Taha Diouri, Stewart Melville’s College

Jasmine McLean, Lenzie Academy

Jamie McCauley, Clifton Hall School

Alex Grassick, Morrison’s Academy