A crime a minute as sexual offences and violence soar
A CRIME is committed every minute of the day in Scotland.
Shocking new figures show sex crime at an all-time high and violent offending is up 7 per cent in a year.
Though overall recorded crime is at a 42-year low, according to Scottish Government statistics, the true scale of the problem is likely to be far higher as an estimated 40 per cent is unreported.
Fewer violent and sexual crimes are being ‘cleared up’ – where a suspect is reported to prosecutors.
About half of all crimes, including nearly three-quarters of housebreakings, are unsolved. For sexual crime the clear-up rate has fallen from 76.5 per cent to 74.1 per cent.
The figures come after the Mail revealed last week that soft touch Community Payback Orders are being issued for child rape and serious sex offences.
Last night, Scottish Tory justice spokesman Douglas Ross said sex offences were ‘among the most traumatic crimes that can take place and we owe it to the public to ensure the levels of these crimes reduce’.
He added: ‘Despite this, the SNP is presiding over a system of community sentencing which sees some serious criminals like rapists and child sex offenders escaping jail – that sends out the wrong message and has to change as a matter of urgency.’
Sandy Brindley, national coordinator for Rape Crisis Scotland, said the figures may show some victims had more confidence in reporting crime, but warned there may also have been a ‘significant increase in the actual levels of sexual crime’.
The Scottish Government figures show there were 585,436 crimes in 2015-16 – 1,600 a day or about one a minute – against
‘Huge challenges to keep us safe’
635,848 in 2014-15. Non-sexual crimes of violence rose from 6,357 to 6,775. Sex crime has risen from 9,557 to 10,273, with 43 per cent involving child victims.
Attempted murder and serious assault, which are grouped together in the data, have risen 27 per cent from 3,166 to 4,007 in the last year.
Meanwhile the statistics show a 5 per cent rise in people ‘driving under the influence’ – from 5,218 in 2014-15 to 5,458 in 201516, following the reduction in the drink-drive threshold.
Matt Forde, national head of service for children’s charity NSPCC Scotland, said the rise in sex offences against children was ‘extremely concerning’.
Lib Dem justice spokesman Liam McArthur said: ‘Our police officers face huge challenges to keep us safe. It is time the Scottish Government got serious about backing our police.’
Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said: ‘The increase in the report of sexual crime is in part a reflection of the increased level of confidence the public has in reporting this type of crime to the police with the knowledge every complaint will be handled sensitively and professionally.’
Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said: ‘While higher levels of recorded sexual crime are broadly in line with UK trends… such incidents are completely unacceptable.
‘This is why we have taken tough action to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said the drink-driving figure was the second-lowest in the last ten years, adding it suggested most drivers ‘have heeded our message not to drink and drive’.