Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
12-year-old caught with knife at school
And a 13-year-old threatened another pupil with a dart in a city secondary.
The revelations come amid reports of escalating violence at schools across the city.
Last month, we reported that a youngster turned up at Morgan Academy carrying a knife.
The incident prompted fears that a tragedy similar to the fatal stabbing of Aberdeen teenager Bailey Gwynne could happen in Dundee.
An investigation by the Tele can now reveal that there have been several incidents involving pupils between the ages of 12 and 14 at city schools over the past three years.
It also shows that the i ncidents included a 12-year-old in possession of a knife in a primary school. No injuries were sustained in the incident and the police issued a warning letter.
In other incidents i n secondary schools, pupils were found to have knives in schoolbags, rucksacks and within their clothing.
In one incident, a 13-year-old threatened another pupil with a dart.
Police Scotland said it was unable to provide a breakdown of the schools involved.
A spokesman said: “To do so would create a league table of sorts, pitting schools against one another unfairly.
“A school with a high number of incidents isn’t necessarily more dangerous — it could simply be the case that the school adopts a zero tolerance policy to such incidents and reports all suspicions to police whereas other schools may be lacking in that regard.”
The police stated that action was taken in each of the incidents, either by sending a warning letter, reporting the incident to the children’s panel or referring the matter to an “external agency”.
In an exclusive interview with the Tele recently, Dundee City Council’s new executive director of children and families services Paul Clancy said the local authority was doing everything possible to keep children safe in city schools.
However, measures used would stop short of searching pupils.
Detective Inspector Garry Fraser said that in cases reported to police, action would be taken.
KIDS as young as 12 have been caught with knives in Dundee primary schools, the Tele can reveal.