School vandalism - 'This is the last thing the area needs'

THE wanton destruction of property at two of the city's newest primary schools is a kick in the teeth to everyone who is working so hard to improve life in Craigmillar.

It is less than three years since the 16 million joint campus for Niddrie Mill and St Francis primaries opened, and yet here we are with council taxpayers facing a bill for 23,000 of repairs.

This is the last thing that the community needs at a time when efforts to tackle vandalism in the neighbourhood appeared to be bearing fruit. And especially when school budgets are already under so much pressure.

There is no point in those left to pick up the pieces trying to understand the mentality of someone who puts so much effort into smashing 34 windows. It is simply mindless.

This was not any form of youthful high jinx, and it must not be treated that way. This was a deliberate and sustained attack on public property.

The police must do all they can to trace whoever is responsible, and if and when they are caught the courts or youth panel has to make a clear example of them.

The public have to do their bit too. This is not a time to hide behind any misplaced ideas about "grassing" to the police.

Anyone who has an idea of who might be behind this senseless attack should have no qualms in picking up the phone and calling Crimestoppers.

Striking a balance

the question of how much to tell the public about the sex offenders living within our midst has always been a difficult one.

Any doubts that some kind of warning system is needed were blown away years ago - not least by the terrible murder in Glasgow of eight-year-old Mark Cummings by a known paedophile - but an information free-for-all always ran the risk of driving the problem underground.

The so-called Mark's Law, which allows worried parents to check the background of someone who comes into close contact with their children, always looked like it had the potential to strike the right balance.

And so it seems to be proving. In just one month, three children have been protected by the controlled release of information from the police, and eight more cases are pending.

At the same time, the people who have been trusted with information seem to be acting responsibly. There have been no reports of vigilante action springing from these cases.

There can be no better memorial to tragic Mark Cummings.