Ben Macpherson tells Scottish Parliament crime and antisocial behaviour is a 'very serious' problem in Edinburgh

Ben Macpherson tells Scottish Parliament crime and antisocial behaviour is a 'very serious' problem in Edinburgh.  07-01-25

Transcript

00:00As was referenced last year in my constituency, I received correspondence about many very

00:06concerning instances of youth crime and antisocial behaviour, including threatening people with

00:10weapons like axes and knives, theft and robbery, unprovoked and sometimes very harmful assaults

00:14on other young people and passers-by, the harassment of women and girls and vulnerable

00:19people, dangerous driving of motorbikes, e-bikes, pushbikes and scooters, clipping pedestrians,

00:25stealing phones and generally causing alarm to pedestrians and drivers. All of these things

00:29usually done while wearing menacing balaclavas and with a sense of being above the law.

00:34This is a very, very small minority of Scotland's young people who are engaging in this criminality,

00:39but I worry that the problem is growing and is now very serious in Edinburgh. It is increasing

00:44in frequency and the severity of violence is worsening. I have received almost weekly

00:48very worrying correspondence from the communities I serve in recent months. For example, in

00:55December, a mother and daughter were reportedly attacked by a gang in Leith, and just before

00:59Christmas a boy was stabbed by a gang of youths elsewhere in Edinburgh. The issues around

01:04bonfire night are well known.