Pupils found with knives on the rise

Eleven pupils at schools in each of the Lothians and the Scottish Borders were caught carrying knives in the space of just eight months.

An investigation has revealed ten pupils across Scotland are being found with knives on school premises every month.

The figures taken from April to November last year have been described as “hugely concerning”.

Ten pupils at schools across Scotland are being caught carrying knives every month.

The Police Scotland figures show that 80 school pupils were found with knives on school premises between the start of April and the end of November last year.

There were a further 19 cases of knives being used in “other criminal activity” at schools and 45 cases where pupils were found carrying an offensive weapon.

Despite the tragic killing of teenager Bailey Gwynne at Cults Academy in Aberdeen, children attending schools in the north-east of Scotland are among the most likely to be caught with knives.

The 16-year-old died in October, 2015, after being attacked by another pupil. A report found his death could have been avoided if his classmates had told teachers his killer was carrying a knife.

The statistics show that 11 pupils attending schools in the north-east were caught with knives over the eight-month period – the joint highest figure alongside the Lothians and Scottish Borders.

The data, described last night as “hugely concerning”, relates to the period after the Scottish Crime Recording Board changed the way knife crime in schools was recorded in April last year.

It forms part of a wider examination of knife crime in school carried out by Johnston Press Investigations Team.

It shows that children as young as four are being caught in school armed with

0 Children as young as the age of four are being caught with knives knives and other lethal weapons, including prison-style “shanks” made by fixing razor blades into felt-tipped pens.

Other weapons schoolchildren were caught carrying last year included machetes, hunting knives and axes.

The investigation reveals a 42 per cent increase in children caught in possession of a knife, blade or other weapon over the last two academic years in areas where comparative figures are available.

Some areas of the UK have seen bigger increases, including rural counties – the problem is not confined to cities. Overall, reported knife crimes in schools have increased by 12 per cent.

In South Yorkshire there has been a 151 per cent rise in the number of children caught carrying knives in school over the last two academic years.

Just last week a 14-year-old boy was left permanently dis- figured in an alleged attack with a bladed weapon outside a Glasgow secondary school.

Liz Smith, MSP, education spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, said: “These statistics are hugely concerning, and show that we have a real problem.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “It is important that these figures are seen in the overall context of a 64 per cent reduction in crimes of handling offensive weapons in the last decade. We are determined to continue making progress – and the decision to specifically record offences of possession of weapons in schools was precisely in order to support efforts to make Scotland’s schools safer.” Scottish academics are to examine how politicians and the media shape perceptions of refugees as part of a £3 million study on the impact of the migrant crisis on Europe.

Researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) will study how the language used in political speeches on immigration, and the resulting coverage, shapes public perception.

They will also travel to Turkey and Iraq to set up “advice clinics” to make sure migrants and refugees have access to accurate information as part of the three-year project.

The Respond project is an European Union-funded review of mass migration to Europe triggered by conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. It will focus on border control, migration and integration and will involve 14 universities across Europe.

GCU’S Dr Umut Korkut said: “We are going to see what politicians talk about in terms of European integration, how they appeal to their domestic audience and what kind of ideas they introduce to the public.

“Our researchers will concentrate on three types of newspapers in each country; conservative, liberal and middle ground and see how the politicians’ speeches are put into context.

Figures show around 1.7 million migrants have arrived on European shores since 2014.