Police body calls for review of exclusion of most assaults

Ministers have been urged to look again at the exclusion of common assaults from violent crime records.

The body in charge of holding Police Scotland to account said including common assaults in the violence figures is likely to provide a “more accurate picture as the extent of violent crime in Scotland”.

In September, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland published a crime audit which categorised common assaults as crimes of violence.

It said the official statistics published by the Scottish Government left out the lesser assaults from the grouping “despite the fact that some common assaults may be serious in nature”.

Derek Penman, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, said the HMIC has recommended the Scottish Government and Police Scotland explore whether the crime groupings should change.

Mr Penman said yesterday: “Crime statistics need to be meaningful and presented in a way that the public can understand, and can also be used to inform effective preventive approaches.”

Earlier, Fife MSP Claire Baker, who is also Scottish Labour’s justice spokeswoman, said victims will be “shocked” that these assaults are not deemed “violent” by the Government.

“Across Tayside and Fife violent crime increases twelvefold if you include common assaults. This is a staggering statistic, and one that will worry many,” she added.

Mark Ruskell, Scottish Green MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said: “How these acts of violence are classed is less than ideal but this should not distract from the priority, which should be the prevention of all forms of assault.”

This is a staggering statistic, and one that will worry many. CLAIRE BAKER