A Moray councillor yesterday called for criminals to wear pink jumpers while serving sentences of unpaid service work within the community.
Conservative councillor Douglas Ross said the clothing would give Moray residents the satisfaction of seeing that justice was being done.
The debate was sparked during a council meeting which considered Scottish Government guidance on community service.
New standards are being brought in to give courts better access to community service projects as an alternative to a prison sentence.
Councillor Ross said he believed pink jumpers would improve public perception and deter offenders.
“Everyone is going to know that they are offenders,” he said.
Labour councillor Barry Jarvis backed the call for high-visibility clothing. Other councillors disagreed.
“Some days I’m seduced by this argument and then other days I recognise that we need to do all we can to ensure that people undertake these projects,” said Keith and Cullen Independent councillor Stewart Cree.
He said a plaque placed above projects that had been completed by offenders on community service would be more effective.
Buckie Independent councillor Joe Mackay said the pink jumper plan was similar to “bringing back the days of the stocks”.
“We can’t have people in chain gangs now,” he said.
“Gone are the days of Charles Dickens when people were put in stocks.”
Moray’s criminal justice service manager Blair Dempsie said the debate about “chain-gang outfits” had been around for a long time.
The prospect would not encourage offenders to change their behaviour, he said.
“My personal viewpoint is that we struggle sometimes to encourage people to come and do community service and we would struggle significantly more if this was in place.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “It is for local criminal justice authorities to determine what kind of projects are appropriate for offenders carrying out their community sentences, and requirements.
“What is important, however, is that the work carried out through community payback, such as cleaning up graffiti and repairing damaged fencing, is visible to the wider community.
“Communities need to be able to see the difference that such schemes can make.”