Dundee residents top prison league

this is happening. There are many reasons why people end up in prison, but poverty can lead to people taking some chances.

“If they take a chance and don’t get caught, they take more chances.

“We need to rehabilitate people in the criminal justice system and see people paying a contribution to society through community service rather than by a prison sentence.”

Meanwhile, shadow justice secretary and north-east Conservative MSP Liam Kerr said while the city was beginning to realise its potential in many ways, inequality and multiple deprivation had yet to be tackled in any meaningful way.

“The quality of life for many Dundonians has gone down, as funding for alcohol and drug rehab has been slashed along with council budgets,” he said.

“Key drivers of crime are when people feel they have no future, leave school without positive destinations and there are few high quality jobs.”

Prison service statistics reveal overall in Scotland, the prison population has increased sharply since 2017 to an annual average of 8,200, most of which are adult men.

The number of women has remained stable since 2013, while the average number of offenders under the age of 21 has continued to decrease over the past 10 years.

Overall 17,294 people experienced imprisonment at some point in the year 2019/20, which is a fall of about 15% from 2010/11.

The statistics also found individuals from the 10% most deprived areas in Scotland are over represented in prisons, and prisoners classed as homeless have increased from 4.4% 10 years ago to 7.5%.

The number of prisoners identifying as Asian, Asian Scottish, Asian British, African, Caribbean and black have also decreased.

Councillor Kevin Cordell