17 MARCH 2010
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
LABOUR WELCOMES DROP IN NUMBER OF KNIFE OFFENCES
 
Dumfries MSP Elaine Murray and Dumfries and Galloway MP Russell Brown have welcomed the recent decrease in knife offences in Dumfries and Galloway, but remain concerned that they are higher than a decade ago.
 
Between 2007/08 and 2008/09 the number of people charged with handling an offensive weapon in Dumfries and Galloway dropped by 33.3% from 81 to 54. However, the 2008/09 figure is still 50% higher than the 36 people charged in the region in 1999/00.
 
Following the support of 30,000 Scots for Labour’s ‘Carry a Knife – Go to Jail’ campaign, Labour last month lodged an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill at Holyrood. The amendment - if passed - will ensure that anyone found guilty of a carrying a knife would get a mandatory minimum sentence of at least six months but judges could jail knife criminals up to a four year maximum.
 
Dumfries and Galloway MP Russell Brown said: "This drop in knife offences is encouraging news and I hope it will be sustained. The police and our communities are to be commended for their efforts to tackle this crime.
 
"Our region thankfully has a low number of knife offences compared to elsewhere in Scotland, but we cannot be complacent. Every knife offence is tragic and can have appalling consequences. Even with this decrease, the figures are higher than they were a decade ago and we need to continue to work together to get knives off our streets.
 
"Tough penalties are required for those who carry knives but we’ll only win this battle if we combine good policing and sentencing with improved education around violence and knife crime. We need to show people the consequences of carrying a knife and persuade them not to pick up a blade in the first place."
 
Dumfries MSP Elaine Murray said: "Our region does not suffer from knife crime to the same extent as elsewhere in the country and I welcome the drop in offences over the last year, but we still have much more work to do.
 
"When Labour was in Government in Scotland we doubled sentences and led successful knife amnesties but even with this recent drop in offences it is important the Government does more.
 
"Labour is fighting in the Scottish Parliament for a consistent approach and a certainty that if people are caught carrying a knife they will go to jail. This puts knife crime on the same footing as firearms offences and sends a clear message to anyone considering picking up a blade."
 
ENDS
 
CONTACT - ANDREW MACKENZIE 07769206856
 
NOTES TO EDITOR
 
Please find table with figures number of knife offences by police force area attached.