In an interview with the Alloa & Hillfoots Advertiser, Sheriff Mackie reflected on his journey to the bench.

Born in Uganda, his family moved to Ayr after the country obtained independence. He read law at Edinburgh University before qualifying as a solicitor and then going to the bar.

After a health scare which resulted in emergency cranial surgery, he had a change of perspective on his career and decided to become a sheriff.

On the bench he became known for a sentencing philosophy that some in the community disparaged as ‘soft’ on offenders.

He said: “I came into being a sheriff without a philosophy; I had been a lawyer and an advocate and was doing quite well.

“The decision to become a sheriff was a career choice rather than anything to do with a burning desire to get justice. But very quickly I realised that there was a great privilege to serving the public.

“That feeling grew in me really quickly. I developed a desire to properly understand why and how people come into the criminal justice system.

“I began to ask myself: ‘Is it really just what I think,’ so I made it my purpose to find out why people get involved in crime and that led me to joining Scottish Association for the Study of Offending (SASO) and the Howard League, and bit-by-bit I gained more insight into why people offend.

“I learned that short sentences achieve nothing,” he added. “There is more research than you need to know that short sentences do more harm than good. They ruin lives of offenders and their families.

“In the sheriff court you find yourself dealing with people who break the law because of their circumstances. So many people who came in front of me had mental health problems, addictions, [or were affected by] domestic abuse or sexual abuse.

“Someone who has experienced trauma is likely to respond to situations differently from others, with violence for instance.”

He added: “I don’t mind being known as the softy’s softy when it comes to sentencing because hard and soft is an irrelevant consideration. What is appropriate for the individual and society? We have to help people desist from crime.

“Being known as soft is meaningless to me. As long as I’m happy in my own mind that I’ve made a decision that I can justify and that I think is right.”

In retirement Sheriff Mackie plans to continue his work in restorative justive and to oversee the building of a new home.