Stopping the sale of knives to under-18s
don’t know how many have had knives. “Surely every school should know without having to search through every pupil’s record?
“If someone at my kid’s school had a knife, I’d certainly want to know.
“If they’re not keeping track, how else can they check if things are getting better?” An inquiry ruled 16-year-old Cults Academy pupil Bailey’s death was “potentially avoidable” if teachers had been told that a pupil carried weapons.
His killer, who cannot be named, was later jailed for nine years after being found guilty of culpable homicide.
A five-day trial at the High Court in Aberdeen heard the incident involved an argument over a biscuit.
A friend of the boy who killed Bailey told the court he had shown him a knife and knuckledusters on several occasions from the end of 2014.
Police Scotland said last year that there had been 15 knife incidents at Aberdeen schools between October 28, 2015, when Bailey died, and October 2016, taking the total number in the last 22 months to 35.
In Dundee, eight incidents have been recorded since the start of the 2015-16 school year, as well as a further seven in both East Ayrshire and Glasgow, and six in Shetland.
Angus and Clackmannanshire recorded five each, Argyll and Bute and Inverclyde two each, and Stirling and Renfrewshire one apiece.
Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, Falkirk, Highland, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian councils said they could not provide the information because it was not held centrally and it would require searching each individual pupil’s record, which would be too time-consuming.
Aberdeenshire, Midlothian and East Lothian councils said they could not provide figures because incidents were only recorded when they resulted in an exclusion.
Fife and Western Isles authorities failed to respond to requests for information.
The new figures are revealed as the Ben Kinsella Trust, a youth charity, warns young people are becoming “increasingly desensitised” by knife crime, and consider the fatal consequence to be an inevitability of life.
North East MSP and the Conservatives’ justice spokesman, Liam Kerr, said the national figures were “deeply alarming”.
He said: “Nobody wants to see a repeat of the horrific events at Cults Academy.
“The statistics from Aberdeen City Council will horrify parents. If there have been 20 incidents in a nine-month period then that raises some very serious questions.
“I would be interested to know if this is just a product of a more strict approach in schools since the Bailey Gwynne tragedy or if we are facing an upward trend of pupils carrying weapons.”
North East Lib Dem MSP Mike Rumbles added: “There is never any excuse for carrying a knife in school or elsewhere.
“Aberdeen City Council and their partners need to ensure that they are doing everything in their power to stamp it out.”
A spokesman for Aberdeen City Council said the recommendations from the report into Bailey Gwynne’s death had all been implemented.
He added: “Support and training was given to head teachers on reporting knife incidents in partnership with Police Scotland.
“In September 2016 a citywide meeting was held and the weapons protocol established.”
Meanwhile, a stained glass window commemorating Bailey has been installed at his school.
The colourful artwork was unveiled during a private event, which was attended by his family.
The panel includes references to some of Bailey’s favourite places, including Paris, Barcelona and Caithness, as well as the Gwynne family dogs, the Scouts, his family and friends and his hopes for a career in the Marines. AMAZON came in for heavy criticism in the wake of the Bailey Gwynne tragedy when it emerged his killer bought the knife he murdered the 16-year-old with from the online retail giant.
But an investigation by The Sunday Post suggests the firm HAS made progress in tightening up its knife sale procedures.
Bailey’s killer paid £40 for a folding knife with an 8.5cm blade and told police he bought it online “because they don’t check if you’re 18 or not”.
It is illegal to sell a folding knife to someone aged under 18 if the blade is more than three inches (7.62cm) long.
But the 16-year-old was able to get around the age verification checks by pinning a note to his door asking for it to be delivered to a shed instead of accepting it in person.
In March 2016, five months after Bailey’s death, Amazon signed up to a new voluntary code on the sale of knives, alongside other retailers, that requires proof of age at the point of purchase, collection or delivery.
But it emerged in October 2016 that those seeking to buy knives on Amazon were only warned that they may be asked for age identification on delivery.
The firm now offers more robust security checks and warns on its website that the knife will not be delivered without verifying the buyer’s age.
Our investigation suggests that these measures are now working.
We purchased a three-inch folding knife from Amazon and left a note asking for it to be delivered to a recycling bin in a fenced garden.
But delivery drivers from UPS put a note through the door saying it was not possible and a signature was required on two separate occasions.
New measures making online shoppers collect knives in person rather than having them delivered to homes were proposed by the UK Government last month, offering hope that some lessons have been learned from Bailey Gwynne’s death.