Research that has been carried out for the Scottish sentencing council has confirmed that brains of humans do not fully develop until 25 – 30 which could reflect future sentencing guidelines.
The research which was undertaken by the University of Edinburgh was to look at the maturity of younger people. Now the public are being asked their views on new sentencing guidelines. The Sheriff Principal has stated: “This is a highly significant piece of research and we would like to express our gratitude to the University of Edinburgh for carrying out this work…The point at which the brain is fully developed and people are able to better regulate their behaviour is an important consideration for sentencing as it relates to the level of culpability, or blame, for the offence in question.”