Children as young as 10 have been caught carrying weapons by police stop-and-search teams in Scotland, alarming new figures show.
Analysis has revealed that between April and September last year 123 youngsters under 18 were found in possession of a weapon.
This includes a 10-year-old child caught with a bladed weapon in Edinburgh in July and a 14-year-old girl with a firearm in Fife in September.
A number of 12-year-olds across the country were also found carrying weapons and illegal drugs, including a girl in Ayr in June.
Critics have now slammed the SNP government for ‘falling asleep at the wheel’ while crime has ‘spiralled out of control’ and children ‘still young enough to play with toys’ are ‘walking around with potential murder weapons’.
The latest figures show that children aged between 10 to 17 account for more than a quarter of all positive weapons searches by Police Scotland during the six month period.
Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Liam Kerr said the Nationalist government needed to ‘wake up to the gravity of the situation’.
He said: ‘SNP ministers have been asleep at the wheel while crime has spiralled out of control in Scotland, and more and more youngsters are at risk of getting caught up in such offences.
‘They need to wake up to the gravity of this situation and ensure that our children are educated against falling into a life of crime and also provide police with the resources they need to keep communities safe.’
The latest statistics were analysed by policing and justice magazine 1919 and when incidents involving the possession of drugs or stolen goods were included, there were 566 searches where under-18s were found to be carrying illegal items.
Of the 123 positive weapon searches, 25 were carried out for care and welfare reasons, while a further five were triggered for ‘protection of life’.
Fiona Steel, national director for Scotland at Action for Children, said one of the main reasons children and young people give for carrying weapons is ‘not feeling safe in their community’.
She added: ‘They use them as an attempt to protect themselves against violence which can result in them being used against others.
‘In response, we must see more local safe spaces to remove that fear of violence, get better at addressing the root causes of violence, and explaining the rigorous responses to youth behaviour by social work, police and support services to re-build community confidence.’
But David Threadgold, the chair of the Scottish Police Federation – which represents rank and file officers – said: ‘As police officers have largely withdrawn from school environments, the visibility of the police in our communities is less – and the police are seen in communities as merely a reactive force.
‘Along with a reducing – if any – preventative element to policing, opportunities are being missed to develop the type of relationships and intelligence gathering that may form part of the solution to this.’
Scottish Labour’s community safety spokesman, Katy Clark, however, said: ‘The fact that children still young enough to play with toys are walking around with potential murder weapons is deeply disturbing.
‘Not only does it create a potentially volatile situation for policing, but it is a sign that children are being led down a path of crime before they have even reached their teens.’
Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Mark Sutherland said that the carrying of weapons was a ‘complex issue with social, psychological and environmental factors all contributing’.
He added: ‘Stop and search which is Intelligence-led, is a valuable and effective policing tactic that helps us keep people safe in many different ways.
‘This tactic must be used lawfully, proportionately and in line with the code of practice.’
The Scottish Government admitted it was ‘unacceptable that any child or young person is caught with weapons, drugs or stolen goods’ but said it was ‘wrong to suggest that crime has spiralled out of control when recorded crime is down 40 per cent since 2006-07’.
A spokesman added: ‘Preventing children from going down a path where they are in conflict with the law and supporting them appropriately, constructively and effectively when they do, has been integral to our approach for over a decade.
‘We have invested more than £4 million over the last two years to implement the actions set out in the Violence Prevention Framework.’