Tammy Kerr

Introduction

Tammy Kerr is a 37-year-old woman with twenty years of previous convictions, many of them for assault, who became the subject of a published sentencing statement after she spat at a procurator fiscal depute inside Kilmarnock Sheriff Court. On 26 June 2026, while appearing on petition in respect of a charge of assault and robbery, Kerr spat at the fiscal depute and then became aggressive, screaming and swearing as she was being led back to the cells. At the High Court in Glasgow, Lord Harrower imposed a 16-month prison term on her after she pleaded guilty under section 76 procedure to charges of assault and of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, telling her that spitting is “an exceptionally degrading and vile form of assault” and that the sentence was necessary to deter others and protect officers of the court .

Background Information

Kerr, who is now 37 years old, appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on 26 June 2026 in connection with a petition charge of assault and robbery — a case in which she was in due course convicted and sentenced — when the spitting incident took place. The published remarks record that over the preceding twenty years she had “acquired an unenviable record of previous convictions, many of which were for assault” . The new charges were brought under section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010, the statutory offence of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause fear or alarm, alongside a separate assault charge arising from the same episode . Her guilty pleas were tendered under the section 76 solemn procedure, in which an accused pleads guilty on the basis of a Crown narrative without a trial .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Admitted spitting at a court prosecutor and abusing court staff; jailed sixteen months.

The court heard that on 26 June 2026, as Kerr appeared on the assault-and-robbery petition at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court, she spat at the procurator fiscal depute — the prosecutor conducting the case — and then turned aggressive, screaming and swearing as she was escorted back to the cells. The depute was able narrowly to avoid the spittle, which landed on her papers, her laptop and the table in front of her . Sentencing, Lord Harrower said that “spitting is an exceptionally degrading and vile form of assault, regardless of whether it connects with its intended victim”, that the procurator fiscal depute is an officer of the court, and that all public servants and court officials deserve protection while carrying out their duties within the courthouse. He told Kerr her continued aggressive behaviour while being taken down showed “a total disregard for judicial authority” .

Public Reaction and Consequences

The published sentencing statement itself functions as the court’s public warning: Lord Harrower used it to state plainly that assaults on prosecutors and court staff strike at the working of the justice system, and to frame deterrence as an explicit purpose of the sentence. He said he was persuaded that “a significant custodial sentence is necessary in order to deter others and to protect officers of the court and court staff in carrying out their duties” . The judge also took account of everything said by counsel on Kerr’s behalf before fixing the term, and made the reduction for the timing of her plea explicit on the record — sixteen months rather than the two years he would otherwise have imposed .

Current Status

Kerr was sentenced on 10 November 2026 to sixteen months’ imprisonment on both charges in cumulo, reduced from two years to reflect the timing of her pleas. The sentence was ordered to take effect on the expiry of all sentences previously imposed on her, meaning it begins only once her existing terms are served . No appeal against the conviction or sentence was reported in the published remarks, and no further proceedings arising from the incident were noted .

Impact on Their Career/Life

Kerr leaves the case with a further custodial sentence stacked behind her existing terms and a conviction for assaulting an officer of the court at the very institution where she was already facing proceedings. Because the new term runs consecutively to her prior sentences, the sixteen months extend rather than replace the custody she was already serving, and the published remarks mean the spitting incident now forms part of the public record of her twenty-year offending history . The court’s statement that officers of the court must be protected — and that deterrence of others was a purpose of the sentence — makes her case a reference point for how Scottish courts treat violence against prosecutors and courthouse staff .

Sources

• “HMA v Tammy Kerr, remarks of Lord Harrower” — Judiciary of Scotland, 10 November 2026: source