Searches find more than 200 with weapons

POLICE caught more than 200 people in Lothian and Borders with offensive weapons after carrying out personal searches, new figures have shown.

A total of 210 "positive" searches were conducted between April and September last year, a rise from 164 during the same period the year before.

Officers carried out an increased number of searches last year, recording 4,586 in the force area during those six months.

A total of 3,123 searches were done by officers between April and September 2008. Police say the increase in charges is largely down to stricter law enforcement, with more patrols targeting and catching knife carriers.

Last June, the Evening News revealed that fewer than one in four people caught in public with a knife or offensive weapon in Edinburgh is jailed for the offence.

Exactly 1,200 offenders were sentenced for possession of a knife or offensive weapon in the previous five years, but only 314 were given custodial terms.