A Fife politician claims the number of knife attacks in the area is a “chilling reminder” of the need to tackle such crime, with statistics showing there were 12 such incidents during December.
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Claire Baker made her comments after discovering this was the highest figure recorded by Fife Police over the last two years.
Mrs Baker is calling for a mandatory minimum prison term for knife offenders and obtained the statistics from Fife Police through a Freedom of Information request.
She asked the force to provide details of the number of attacks involving knives in each of the past 24 months and a breakdown of what these crimes were, including locality, number of assaults and the type of crime recorded.
The results show the number of recorded incidents of knife attacks in December was 12 the largest number recorded in any month in the last two years, and more than three times greater than December 2009.
The statistics also show there was a 15% increase in knife attacks last year. There were 46 knife-related incidents in Fife in 2009, but this had risen to 53 last year.Attempted murderOf the 12 attacks, four were “attempted murder” and six were “robbery and assault with intent to rob.”
In addition, the figures reveal there were two murders in Fife in January last year, two cases of attempted murder, one robbery and assault with intent to rob and one serious assault all involving knives.
Mrs Baker told The Courier last night that she feels these figures are “shocking” and is calling for action on knife crime.
“These figures are a chilling reminder of the need to tackle knife crime head on, with tough action,” she said. “It is unacceptable to carry a knife and the law must reflect that.
“The message to anyone caught with a knife should be clear carry a knife and you’ll go to jail.
“A mandatory minimum jail sentence for those caught carrying a knife is the strongest possible deterrent and increases the police’s powers to protect our communities.
“People’s lives across the kingdom have been torn apart by knife crime. It is only right that we take every measure possible to take knives off our streets.”