Knife crime has made headlines in recent weeks, after the death of a boy at Irvine beach in May.
Kayden Moy died after allegedly being stabbed, and three teenagers were arrested in connection with the incident.
During first minister’s questions on 22 May, Scottish Conservatives leader Russell Findlay asked John Swinney what he would say to parents scared for their children’s safety after a series of recent knife incidents involving young people.
The first minister firstly paid tribute to Kayden, and outlined Scottish Government steps to tackle knife crime. He went on to claim that knife crime in Scotland had fallen over the past 15 years.
“We have seen a sustained fall in knife crime in the past 15 years.”
First minister John Swinney
Ferret Fact Service looked at this claim and found it Half True.
Evidence
Scotland has had significant success in reducing deaths caused by knife crime since 2005, when Police Scotland’s violence reduction unit was set up. Its approach to violent crime was rooted in treating violence as a public health crisis, and it is credited in reducing murders and gang violence in Scotland.
Swinney’s claim is that there has been a sustained fall in knife crime in the last 15 years. There are a few different ways to measure this.
Statistics on the number of murders each year in Scotland are broken down by the weapon used. Knives are counted under ‘sharp implements’.
There were 57 murders using sharp implements in 2008-09, and 28 in the most recent data covering 2023-24.
This is a significant reduction in the last 15 years. However, the latest figure of 28 is an increase from the low of 23 in 2013-14, and higher than 2021-22 (25 murders) and 2018-19 (27).
According to Scottish Government research, the most common main method of killing in each of the last 10 years was with a sharp instrument like a knife.
The Scottish Government told Ferret Fact Service that Swinney’s claim referred to data from Public Health Scotland (PHS) which publishes statistics on hospital admissions due to assault by a knife or other sharp object. According to PHS, this “provides one way of assessing the impact of knife crime”.
In 2023-24 there were 438 emergency hospital admissions as a result of assault by a knife or other sharp object, which has reduced from 1,414 in 2008-09. There has been a small increase in recent years, with 405 people admitted in 2022-23, and 399 in 2021-22.
A further measure of knife crime in Scotland is found in the Scottish government’s annual statistics on the crime of ‘handling a knife or pointed weapon in a public place’, also known as possession.
Until 2017-18, Scotland only recorded crimes where the weapon wasn’t also used in another offence (like as part of an assault or murder). Where a knife was used in a murder, for example, the weapon was considered as part of that offence.
Since then, recording has changed. So now data on possession of a bladed weapon is split into two categories – where it is used as part of another crime, and where it is not.
In 2023-24, there were 2,137 knife or pointed weapon crimes recorded where the weapon was used in another offence. This number has increased since statistics were first counted in 2017-18, when 1,595 crimes were recorded in this category.
For crimes where the blade or pointed weapon was not used in another offence there has also been an increase, from from 2,140 in 2017-18 to 2,582 in 2023-24.
Fifteen years ago, there were 4,080 crimes recorded in this category, so there has been a reduction since then. However, the data shows there has been an increase in recorded crimes of handling knives and pointed weapons over the last seven years.
Ferret Fact Service verdict: Half True
John Swinney’s claim about knife crime over the past 15 years depends on what measure you look at. There has been a reduction in the number of people killed or injured by knife crime in the last fifteen years. However Swinney’s claim there has been a ‘sustained’ drop is contradicted by the fact the number of incidents has been increasing in more recent years.
Half True – The claim is somewhat or partially accurate, but leaves out crucial information or is selectively taken out of context
Main image: iStock
