Latest news with #SharonDowey
ITV News
3 days ago
- ITV News
Police caught 91 under-18s with bladed weapons in 2024, figures show
A 10-year-old child was among 91 cases of under-18s found by Police Scotland to be in possession of a bladed weapon last year. The new statistics, which come in the wake of the deaths of teenagers Amen Teklay and Kayden Moy, prompted concerns of a 'youth violence epidemic'. The two teenagers both died after allegedly being stabbed in separate incidents this year. Now analysis of Police Scotland stop and search data by the justice and home affairs magazine 1919 showed that in 2024 teenagers accounted for almost a third of positive knife searches across all age groups. The 91 cases of a someone under the age of 18 being caught with a bladed or pointed weapon equate to about one such case every four days. These alarming figures lay bare just how drastically knife crime has spiralled out of control Scottish Conservative MSP Sharon Dowey The data revealed a 10-year-old was caught with a knife in the east of Edinburgh in July 2024. Meanwhile, 12-year-olds were caught with bladed weapons in the capital, Glasgow, Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, the magazine reported. In addition, more than a dozen children aged 13 – including two girls – were also found to have such items when searched. David Threadgold, chairman of the Scottish Police Federation said: 'Each one of the truly shocking statistics is a justifiable and evidenced-based reaction by the police to an increasingly concerning societal trend we now see emerging among younger members of our communities in Scotland.' He added: 'Each of these statistics is a real situation which created significant risk for my colleagues, as well as potentially life-changing consequences for the perpetrator, and sadly – as we have seen so tragically across Scotland recently – the victims of knife crime, their families and friends.' Mr Threadgold said that the 'solution to this problem cannot rest alone with the police', arguing for 'much greater and more effective preventative strategies' to be put in place across Scotland. Scottish Labour justice spokesperson Pauline McNeill said: 'These shocking figures are yet another sign that there is a youth violence epidemic emerging in Scotland.' She added: 'Each one of these 91 cases is very serious for our communities and potentially for those actually carrying the weapon. 'The only way to tackle this effectively is to have early intervention schemes that get to the root cause, and without this we will fail our communities.' Calling for 'urgent action', she insisted the Scottish Government had 'created a perfect storm by cutting youth work services, letting police officer numbers fall, and mismanaging CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and education'. First Minister John Swinney has already warned youngsters against carrying knives, insisting this is 'dangerous' and 'damaging'. But Scottish Tory community safety spokesperson Sharon Dowey insisted it was 'high time nationalist ministers woke up to the gravity of this situation'. The Conservative MSP said: 'These alarming figures lay bare just how drastically knife crime has spiralled out of control.' She said there needs to be 'meaningful punishments for those who use a knife' along with 'expanded stop-and-search powers for police to act as a deterrent'. However, she claimed: 'The SNP's soft-touch attitude towards justice represents an abject dereliction of duty by John Swinney's government.' A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'Stop and search powers should be used where lawful, necessary and proportionate. Their use in individual cases is an operational matter for Police Scotland. 'Police do use stop and search, and it is one tool to tackle violence alongside a range of other measures such as prevention and education.' Assistant Chief Constable Mark Sutherland of Police Scotland meanwhile said: 'Victims of crime and people right across the country expect us to use all powers at our disposal to keep them safe. 'Stop and search is just one of those powers and one in every three searches leads to the recovery of illicit or harmful items, safeguarding our communities.' Mr Sutherland stressed that 'intelligence-led stop and search is a valuable and effective policing tactic in detecting and preventing crime when it is used lawfully, proportionately and in line with the code of practice, which was introduced in 2017'. This code has a 'dedicated section for children', he added, which provides officers with guidance to be used when when making a decision to stop and search a child. He said: 'We recognise that stopping and searching people is a significant intrusion into their personal liberty and privacy and we remain committed to ensuring that people are treated with fairness, integrity and respect. 'It is also a tactic that enables the service to keep people safe and assist in ensuring the wellbeing of our wider communities.'
Daily Record
15-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Record
Sharon Dowey blasts Scottish Government for delayed discharge "broken promise"
A war of words has broken out between the Scottish Government and MSP Sharon Dowey. A South Scotland MSP has blasted the Scottish Government for their "broken promise" on delayed discharge in Ayrshire. Conservative Sharon Dowey has called out the SNP 's record after new figures released by Public Health Scotland into delayed discharge across Scotland. Health Secretary Neil Gray has said that although delays "remain too high", the figures highlight a "welcome reduction". In March this year, a total of 6,645 bed days were lost in NHS Ayrshire & Arran as a result of delayed discharge. Delayed discharge, also known as bed blocking, is when a patient remains in hospital when they are well enough to go home but an appropriate care package has not been put in place. Ms Dowey said: 'With each passing month, the SNP continue to break their promise to eradicate delayed discharge. 'It is now over a decade since then SNP health secretary Shona Robison made that promise, but still too many days are still being lost in Ayrshire & Arran due to so-called bed blocking. 'The SNP's failure to support frontline health and social care services is trapping in hospital patients who are otherwise fit and healthy enough to leave. 'These figures sum up the folly of SNP ministers squandering tens of millions on their plans for a national care service when patients in Ayrshire and Arran need care packages right now. 'The failure to tackle delayed discharge also has a devastating impact on frontline services, where patients wait longer at A&E or see vital operations cancelled at the last minute, due to a lack of bed space. 'It is time for SNP ministers to focus on getting money to where it is needed most, rather than wasting it on pointless bureaucracy, so that patients can get out of hospital when they are fit to do so.' Health Secretary Mr Gray said: 'While around 97 per cent of all hospital discharges happen without delay, we recognise that delays remain too high. 'However, the latest figures show a welcome reduction, and when coupled with improvements in A&E and planned care waiting times, it's clear that progress in performance is being made. 'We have a clear plan to continue to reduce delayed discharge and our Budget provides £200 million to help reduce waiting list backlogs, improve capacity and remove blockages that keep some patients in hospital longer than they need to be. 'We are determined to continue delivering better outcomes for patients so that they are cared for in the right setting and hospital beds are there for those who need them.'
Telegraph
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
SNP drops law that would have criminalised laying flowers for murdered children
SNP ministers have admitted that people who left floral tributes to child murder victims faced being criminalised under plans to keep the victims' identities secret. The Scottish Government on Monday dropped proposals which would have banned the media from naming children who had been murdered, which Scotland's most senior judge warned would 'impinge on freedom of expression '. The SNP had put forward a consultation on the ban, which it said had been drawn up in response to concerns from bereaved families about press and social media intrusion into their grief. Journalists could have faced jail if they published information which led to the identification of children who had been murdered. The plans provoked a significant backlash from media organisations which said they would have been unable to properly cover matters of significant public interest, such as the 1996 Dunblane massacre, had they been in place at the time. It was also warned that members of the public leaving floral tributes to a victim, and naming them on a sympathy card, would have fallen foul of the new laws. Angela Constance, the SNP Justice Secretary, announced that the Government had decided not to proceed with legislation which had been backed by prominent taxpayer-funded victims' groups. She admitted that new laws would have been likely to 'criminalise ordinary human responses to the tragedy of a child's death, such as public tributes'. The Scottish Tories questioned why the plans had been drawn up in the first place. 'The public will question why time and money was spent by the SNP on this consultation,' Sharon Dowey, shadow minister for victims, said. 'Angela Constance should have realised that legislating on matters like these is impossible. It is important that the SNP Justice Secretary now engages with bereaved families to ensure they are supported in more appropriate ways.' In response to the consultation, Lord Carloway, who until he stood down this month was Scotland's most senior judge, warned that the plans could impede police investigations into a child's death by limiting the information that could be released. He added: 'Any new restriction on what can be reported and publicly discussed would impinge on freedom of expression.' The BBC said that the legislation could prove 'unworkable in practice' and would potentially breach freedom of expression obligations set out in the European Convention on Human Rights. John McLellan, a former editor of The Scotsman who is now director of Newsbrands Scotland, which represents the Scottish media, had branded the plans 'disproportionate, unnecessary and impractical'. He added: 'Friends and relatives would even need to be told not to identify a victim in messages left in floral tributes, lest they be read by passers-by, never mind photographed for publication.'
