Domestic abuse rehabilitation scheme for heterosexual couples only

The Caledonian system was established in 2009 as part of an approach to dealing with domestic abuse and is operated by Sacro.

Solicitor and novelist Willie McIntyre, however, noted a loophole in the system. He tweeted: “Watched an interesting domestic abuse case at court today.

“The criminal justice service report recommended referral to a Sacro programme aimed at men who abuse their female partners.

“Meanwhile the victim, a biological woman, now identifies as non-gender so the court could not accede.”

He told The Times: “I had thought the Caledonian programme was for anybody found guilty of domestic abuse, but that is not the case.

“It can only be used for heterosexual relationships where the male is the abuser, which does seem to be extremely strange. If the abused partner identifies as non-female then the man’s relationship is no longer heterosexual, is my understanding of the logic.”

Solicitor advocate Stephen Biggam, who said his client did not want to be identified, confirmed that the man had been prevented from entering the programme because his partner no longer identified as a woman.

“An assessment was made that this particular individual should be referred to the programme,” he said.

“But it transpired that it only applies to heterosexual relationships. I explained to the sheriff that it seemed bizarre. My point was that domestic abuse is domestic abuse.”

He added: “I argued that he should be eligible to be put on that programme. But the answer came back that it was a no and that was basically it.”