Sex crimes in Scotland soar to highest level since Seventies

SEX crimes have surged in Scotland to the highest level in decades as the SNP’S Justice Secretary was criticised for claiming the figures show that the country is a “safe place to live”.

The number of sex crimes rose by 6 per cent in the year to September, from 14,052 to 14,838, in what is believed to be the highest annual total since the 1970s.

This included a 3 per cent rise in recorded rape and attempted rape, a 16 per cent increase in the number of sexual assaults and an 11 per cent rise in crimes relating to indecent images of children.

Violent crimes rose by 8 per cent, from 64,147 to 69,353, including an 8 per cent surge in robberies and a 6 per cent increase in domestic abuse.

Keith Brown, the Justice Secretary,

said recorded crime had fallen to one of the lowest levels since 1974 after Scottish Government statistics showed a 3 per cent drop.

However, Holyrood’s opposition parties pointed out that the fall was entirely driven by a collapse in the number of crimes relating to Covid, which fell from 19,861 to just 36 as lockdown restrictions were lifted. When these were excluded, crime levels increased by 3 per cent.

Violent and sex crime levels were also higher than before the pandemic, with a five per cent rise in the former since September 2018 and a 10 per cent surge in the latter over the same period.

Pauline Mcneill, Scottish Labour’s justice spokesman, said: “It beggars belief that the SNP government would try to pretend these figures are anything other than a national scandal. Their plans to cut justice budgets risk making this grim picture even worse.”

However, Mr Brown said: “The latest figures today show Scotland continues to be a safe place to live. Recorded crime is at one of the lowest levels seen since 1974, and below pre-pandemic levels, meaning the vast majority of people do not experience crime.”