Knife crime in the Lothians heading for five-year high

Published on Friday 17 December 2010 18:37

KNIFE crime in the Lothians is heading for a record five-year high despite high-profile campaigns aimed at stamping it out.

New figures show that so far this year there has been an average of 45 knife-related crimes per month in the Lothian and Borders Police force area, more than any previous year since 2006.

The running total for 2010 shows there have been 494 knife crimes to date with more than 60 per cent of these occurring in the Capital.

Although in 2006 there were 527 incidents throughout the full year, the per annum average reveals around 44 taking place per month, one fewer than this year's average.

The data, released under Freedom of Information legislation, also reveals knives were used in four murders and nine attempted murders throughout Edinburgh and the Lothians in the last year.

News of the rise in knife crime has sparked renewed calls for mandatory prison sentences for those carrying a blade.

Labour's justice spokesman Richard Baker MSP said: "We don't feel enough is being done to curb knife crime and believe there should be a minimum mandatory sentence enforced for people carrying a knife.

"If you carry a knife you go to jail; if you are caught you get a six-month sentence.

"Until we take that action we will not see the fall in knife crime that we need."

He added: "I do not decry all the hard work that's gone in to deterring knife crime but what this shows is that you cannot just discourage people through awareness-raising campaigns."

Bill Aitken, convener of the Scottish Parliament's justice committee, said: "It's deeply depressing that many young men are prepared to carry knives and often this ends in tragedy. The courts have a duty to clamp down on this type of thing and it's disturbing that the message is not getting through."

The most recent figures contradict Chief Constable David Strang's positive report presented to the Scottish Parliament in May, when he said knife crime across the Lothians had fallen by more than a quarter between April 2009 and the end of March 2010 from the same period the previous year.

In March, the Evening News revealed that the number of people convicted of carrying knives and offensive weapons had soared to a ten-year high in the Lothians.

Figures show 431 convictions were secured in a 12-month period which is a 21 per cent jump on the previous year.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Latest official Scottish Government figures show recorded crime in Scotland is at its lowest level in 32 years, crimes of handling an offensive weapon in Scotland are down to the lowest in a decade and the number of homicides as a result of a knife are down 39 per cent on last year.

"During its pilot in Inverclyde, our No Knives Better Lives campaign has reduced knife carrying by 35 per cent and we have recently rolled the scheme out to Edinburgh and other areas across Scotland."