Scottish Government accused of 'soft touch' on crime as offending rates soar

Non-violent sexual crimes in Scotland have risen by 7% in the past two years, newly released figures show.

Statistics released by the Scottish Government on Thursday show there were 789 such crimes committed in January, compared to 736 in January 2020.

Despite that increase, the figures show a drop of 5% from pre-pandemic levels for all crimes, falling to 18,736 from 19,758.

Sexual crimes rose by 3%, from 1,107 in 2020 to 1,145, while crimes of dishonesty were 8% lower – falling from 8,658 to 7,944.

Conservative MSP Jamie Greene accused the Scottish Government of a 'soft touch' approach to crime.

Scotland's justice system would be improved if victims were involved more – Tom Wood

Other crimes – categorised as “crimes against public justice”, handling offensive weapons or drugs offences – were 6% higher than in January 2020, while fire-raising and vandalism was 7% lower.

The new statistics were released 24 hours after it was revealed that lockdown saw abusers weaponise government restrictions and the fear of contracting Covid-19 to torment and control their victims.

A study by the University of the West of Scotland found victims of domestic abuse were confined in isolation with their abusers, deprived of safe spaces and opportunities to contact others for help or support, and that more children witnessed the abuse due to school closures.

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Jamie Greene said the figures are a symbol of the “soft touch” approach to justice by the Scottish Government.

He added that policies such as the presumption against short sentences – which aims to reduce the number of custodial sentences under one year – and the automatic early release of offenders sentenced to four years or less send out “all the wrong signals” to criminals.

READ MORE: Domestic abusers ‘weaponised government restrictions to control victims’

He added: “Almost 800 violent incidents occurring in one month is completely unacceptable.

“Our hardworking police officers work tirelessly to protect our communities every single day, but they are being let down at every turn by SNP ministers.

“The SNP’s continued soft touch justice approach is completely failing to clamp down on violent incidents and many criminals feel they will go unpunished for appalling crimes.

“Policies such as the presumption against short sentences and automatic early release send out all the wrong signals to offenders.

“It is clear that violent crimes are now well beyond pre-pandemic levels and almost certain to hit their highest level during Nicola Sturgeon’s time as First Minister.”

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