Fewer murders reported to police

The number of murders and serious assaults reported to police in Scotland has fallen, but sexual crimes have increased, new figures show.

The latest Police Scotland data reveals between 1 April and 30 September this year there were 26 murders – five fewer than the same period in 2016 – representing a 16 per cent drop. Serious assaults fell 2 per cent from 2,088 to 2,046.

Sexual crimes rose 6.1 per cent to 5,961 from 5,569 in the same period year on year, which the force credited to increasing confidence among victims to report incidents.

Overall 126,954 crimes were recorded between April and September, 3.9 per cent higher than the 122,088 recorded over the same six months in 2016.

Attemptedmurdersrose from 115 to 122, while the number of robberies also increased from 712 to 817 – a 14.7 per cent jump.

“We will listen; we will investigate regardless of where or when the abuse occurred and we will take prompt action to ensure no-one else is at risk of harm”