PRESS RELEASE

March 10th, 2010

Bad and getting worse

Greenock and Inverclyde MSP Duncan McNeil is dismayed at the release of new crime figures which show knife crime is going up and less people are going to prison.

New figures reveal that seven out of 10 people caught carrying an offensive weapon got sent to jail.

Of those who did get sent to prison, more than half (59 per cent) got less than six months. This comes at a time when the SNP government in Edinburgh is planning on abolishing short sentences of six months or less

This would mean an additional 627 knife criminals would avoid jail across Scotland.

The latest stats also reveal that knife crime offences increased by three per cent in the last year.

He said: ““While knife crime goes up, only three out of 10 knife carriers are being locked up.

“And at a time when people are demanding tougher sentences for knife crime, Kenny MacAskill is proposing to let more knife criminals go free.

“This SNP government is clearly ignoring the will of people when it comes to tough justice for knife criminals.”