My poor wee overwrought mother used to say, if ever she was expected to know the answer to, “What were you doing a fortnight last Tuesday?”, she’d just offer her wrists up for handcuffing.

But I think it’s fair to say, the vast majority of us want to stay within the bounds of the law.

However, I suspect I’m not the only one who thinks, for instance, that the scant information available as to where to park legally – and the subsequent issue of parking tickets – is more about collecting revenue than maintaining law and order!

That said, some people do find themselves on the wrong side of the thin blue line, and they need more help than what is made available by the state.

I’ve got a pal who is a veteran of the criminal justice system.

He claims that when a wee boy ends up in the dock, is that not proof that he’s suffered enough? He says, “Change for the better needs to be felt no’ telt”.

His experience inspired him to create an outlet for boys like him, who he felt had a conditioned negative response to what life served up to them.

Instead he wanted to create a programme that served as a pre-emptive strike. So, he set up ‘Street Cones’: redemptive, restorative, forum-style theatre.

They say life isn’t a rehearsal, but I’ve seen first-hand how this kind of creative activity, original performances and reflective script writing, can guide young people through a rehearsal for the pitfalls in life’s journey. ‘Street Cones’ offer the chance to steer young vulnerable people, away from negative emotions that affect behaviour.

It’s the kind of intervention that is right up my street.

Now I’ve done some time inside myself. That is, I’ve taken drama workshops into various prisons.

I was once involved in making a film in Corton Vale, near Stirling, at the time Scotland’s only women’s prison.

I said to the lassies, to much scoffing, ‘Acting is hard work you know, by the end you’ll all be knackered!’

When done filming at the wrap party, the actor playing the lead role admitted, “Libby was bang to rights, after filming, all’s I ever wanted, was to get back to ma cell”.

I asked some of the women why they been ‘dubbed up’, ie given a custodial sentence. One by one they replied: “For not paying the fine I got, for not paying the fine I got...” and so on.

This wider issue, the reality of imprisonment for debt and the disproportionate way this seems be reflected in the Scottish female prison population, is one that’s close to my heart.

It also forms the premise of ‘In for Penny’, a play co-produced by Otago Theatre, and part of the Gilded Balloon series, which I will star in at the Edinburgh Fringe in August.

Written by Scottish Bafta winner David Cosgrove, it’s a darkly funny tale about a woman sentenced to six weeks in Corton Vale for not paying parking fines.

It’s based on a true story. Mine own.

Did I do the time? Well, you might just have to come and see it, to find out.

And finally...

You know you’re old when you remember a time when the idea of paying through the nose to get a dog, would have just been laughable!