SENTENCING STATEMENTS
A judge may decide to publish a statement after passing sentence on an offender in cases where there is particular public interest; where a case has legal significance; or where providing the reasons for the decision might assist public understanding.
Please note that statements may include graphic details of offences when it is necessary to fully explain the reasons behind a sentencing decision.
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When deciding a sentence, a judge must deal with the offence that the offender has been convicted of, taking into account the unique circumstances of each particular case. The judge will carefully consider the facts that are presented to the Court by both the prosecution and by the defence.
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Read more about victims of crime and sentencing.
HMA v Peter Duffy
Jun 11, 2025
On sentencing, Sheriff Craig said:
"Peter Duffy, the jury has convicted you of an assault on a prisoner which involved you slashing him multiple times with a sharpened implement. The other prisoner sustained 8 separate deep wounds ranging from 4 cm to 15 cm in length, that went down to the fat and muscle, including slicing across their skin, cartilage and nasal septum such that those tending to him could see his teeth through the wound. You claimed you acted in self-defence but the jury has rejected that verdict.
At the time of this assault you were on remand. You had been accused of two murders, of your brother and, separately, of a woman who had been due to give evidence about you in a trial but who never showed up. Her body was eventually found several days later.
You were convicted of both murders. That those involved your stabbing each of the victims to the chest and head, when taken along with your conviction today which also involved knife attacks to the head and chest, makes it clear you are a man given to extreme and brutal violence.
You were sentenced to life imprisonment for each murder. I understand that the punishment part of those sentences was 30 years. That means you will not be eligible even to apply for parole until you are in your late 70s.
The only issue for me today is to decide how long a sentence to impose and whether it should be consecutive or concurrent with your current sentence. Given the severity of the injuries you inflicted on your victim I will impose a sentence of 3 years which also takes account of the fact that this is an assault that happened in prison. This is a matter that is entirely separate to the murders and although chronologically it happened before those convictions, it happened after you committed the murders. In the circumstances I am satisfied that it should be served consecutively to those sentences in terms of section 204B of the criminal procedure Scotland Act 1995."