Calls for Scots cops to have tougher stop & search powers amid surge in child knife crime
Cops reported a 600 per cent rise in serious assaults committed by teenagers over the past five years
BLADE SPREE Calls for Scots cops to have tougher stop & search powers amid surge in child knife crime
SNP ministers were urged to give cops tougher powers to stop and search youths for deadly blades.
The demand was made a week after a 16-year-old boy died after an alleged knife attack on a beach.
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SNP ministers were urged to give cops tougher powers to stop and search youths for blades (STOCK IMAGE)
Credit: Alamy
And cops reported a 600 per cent rise in serious assaults committed by teenagers over the past five years.
Scots Tories leader Russell Findlay said: 'Decisive action must be taken to stop this epidemic of youth violence, especially involving knives.
'Stop-and-search powers must be extended while a rethink is needed of the SNP's weak approach, which fails victims and fuels violence.'
'Tougher powers to stop and frisk would help police to prevent violence, protect young people and keep the public safe. The SNP need to act now to avoid more attacks and killings on our streets.'
Tim Frew, from the charity YouthLink Scotland, told BBC's The Sunday Show that 'too many' youth work services have been cut in recent years.
But Justice Secretary Angela Constance insisted the rise in violent crime among young Scots was a 'complex' issue.
And she described calls for a tougher justice system to tackle it as 'misplaced'.
She said: 'There's not one reason, there will be many.
'That means there will be more than one solution.'
Ms Constance said youth work's contribution would be 'imperative'.
Horror moment Love Island star Amber Gill's ex 'stabs tourist in Thai nightclub before fleeing' as manhunt launched
But rivals accused her of failing to accept blame for her party slashing funding.
Labour's Pauline McNeill hit out: 'Cuts to youth work, drop in police numbers, pressure on our justice system, chaos in our schools and long waits for child and adolescent mental health services have all contributed to this problem.'
A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'Police do use stop and search. It is one tool to tackle violence alongside a range of other measures such as prevention and education.'
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