Children as young as three have been detected committing crimes throughout Tayside and Fife in the past two years.
Last year, a three-year-old in Dundee was caught vandalising property while another child of three was found shoplifting in Kirkcaldy.
In the same year an eight-year-old was caught with a knife in a public place in Carnoustie, while a seven-year-old from Perth was detected acting in a racially aggravated manner.
Figures released under Freedom of Information legislation have revealed that a total of 233 children under the age of 10 have been detected for crimes ranging from breach of the peace and theft of a bicycle to sexual exposure, racially aggravated conduct and possession of a blade in a public place in 2011/12.
The manager of Dundee-based children’s charity Eighteen and Under hit out at the parents she claims are ultimately responsible for these crimes.
Laurie Matthew said: ”It’s absolutely outrageous a child as young as eight is carrying a knife. Not only are they in danger of cutting themselves but they don’t have the wherewithal to know what to do if anything happens.
”You can’t really call a three-year-old shoplifting a criminal. A parent is responsible for that.
”And an eight-year-old carrying a knife where’s the parent there too? I don’t agree with criminalising children so young.”
The current age of criminal responsibility in Scotland is 12 but children under that age can still be detected committing crime.
Ms Matthew welcomed police taking crime by children so seriously.
She said: ”I think it’s really good the police are finding out these things. Wouldn’t it be really bad if an eight-year-old with a knife wasn’t detected and then injured someone?
”I think what’s needed is a bit more education all round with parents, police and agencies.
”Perhaps one of the problems we have is parents that do care but aren’t responsible enough or have the advantage of education.”
Anne Houston, chief executive of charity Children 1st, agreed the police and their partner agencies need to look into the underlying issues that cause young children to commit crime.
She said: ”It is concerning that children under 10 are considered to be responsible for criminal offences in these numbers. In Scotland we have a history of looking at ‘the needs not deeds’ as enshrined in the children’s hearing system.
”It is important that the causes of a child or young person’s problematic behaviour is explored and that they, and their family, are given appropriate support to address the issue and prevent future offending behaviour.”
The number of children under 10 committing crime across Tayside and Fife actually fell last year from 270 in 2010/11.
In March last year two 10-year-old boys and one nine-year-old were apprehended for vandalising young trees in the Ardler area of Dundee. In total there were 29 acts of vandalism by under-10s in Tayside throughout 2010/11, 21 of them in Dundee.
Acts of vandalism increased to 45 in Tayside in 2011/12 with 35 counts in Dundee by youngsters ranging from three to nine years old.
In Dundee an eight-year-old made off with a bicycle and nine other children were apprehended for other thefts, including shoplifting.
Throughout Tayside there were 30 minor assaults, down from 33 the previous year.
In Fife a six-year-old in Glenrothes was detected for minor assault the youngest person in the region to be caught for the crime. In that case the child was reported to have assaulted the complainer by punching, slapping and kicking him and throwing mud and stones at him to his slight injury.