Perth city centre is major crime hotspot

Perth City Centre is the area’s serious assault capital, with 19 crimes of this type recorded in the year so far - that’s nearly half of all the serious assaults recorded for Perth and Kinross as a whole.

New figures from Police Scotland show there were 41 serious assaults in total across Perth and Kinross.

Figures for the year so far, up until September, show there were four serious assaults in Blairgowrie and the Glens, four in Perth City South and three in Strathearn. Perth City North had one recorded incident.

Looking at the number of domestic abuse incidents reported to the police from April to September, these are up by 11 percent at 623, compared to 560 for the same time period last year.

Police Scotland’s April to September statistics showed total domestic abuse crimes and offences detection rates were down by 10 percent this year for the period, with still only 64 per cent of these crimes solved.

Last year 74 per cent of perpetrators had action against them.

In the second quarter, the number of victims of sexual crimes was up by 49 victims, with a total of 184 sexual crimes reported.

Rape detection rates in Perth and Kinross fell in the past year from just under 80 per cent to just over 50 per cent.

Perth city centre saw seven robberies and 48 cases involving knives and other weapons.

Drugs - supply and production - were also recorded as being by far at their highest levels in Perth city centre.

Police Scotland had 138 incidents reported to them from July to September this year.

There were 202 incidents of shoplifting in the city centre, 59 in Perth City North, 23 in Perth City South, while Kinross-shire had 22, and Blairgowrie 23.