Professor John Robertson OBA
Thanks to cuckooshoe for alerting me to this:
From ITN on 1 May 2025:
ITN Productions’ new 1 x 90’ documentary for 5, looks at the rise in murder convictions for 12-17-year-olds in the UK, from those affected by these harrowing crimes and experts offering insight and analysis.
Stuart Stephens [pictured], father of Olly Stephens who was killed in 2021 aged 13, shares heart-wrenching memories of his son, whose attack was planned on social media. Stuart subsequently started to campaign for tougher online safety measures.
Rohan Shand’s son, Rohan Shand jr who was known as Fred, was stabbed to death on his way home from school in 2023. Rohan snr talks powerfully about the emotional impact of knife crime on him and his family.
Hayley Ryall, mother of teenager Mikey Roynon who was tragically killed at a house party in 2023 also speaks out about her devasting loss and setting up the charity Mikey’s World to install specialist emergency bleed kits in her son’s hometown of Bristol.The nation is facing a chilling new reality: a shocking rise in child killers—and their victims—is gripping Britain. Murder convictions for minors in England and Wales have quadrupled since 2016. This gripping documentary investigates the disturbing rise in youth violence, asking: what’s driving this deadly trend? Through expert insight and heart-wrenching real-life stories, we uncover a toxic mix of online feuds, social media pressure, and deadly weapons.
https://www.itn.co.uk/media-centre/5-documentary-talks-families-children-murdered-their-peers
The above does not give the actual figures but I must assume the quadrupling claim is reliable.
Some may find this too sensitive a topic but I feel I must clarify the situation, any trend, in Scotland as a counter ready for the likes of the Scottish opposition leaders or ‘our’ dreadful media, ever ready to paint a dark portrait of life in Scotland under the SNP.
The trend is clearly and definitively the other way.
Above, the official data reveal a steady, statistically significant, falling trend in the number of homicides by minors, over four 5 years sets (more reliable than 1 year changes), plummeting from 24 under Labour to 6 under the SNP, in recent years.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Austerity caused knife murders to increase 200 people a year in London.
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”Scotland’s media and opposition leaders …”
Firstly , are all controlled by their London bosses …their number one target is ANYTHING that can be used to besmirch the SNP Government ( whether actually true or not !!!) and attack Independence , while ignoring the utter hypocrisy of their stance on the SAME issues in England !
To give their views any credence , whether in Holyrood or elsewhere , is accepting that they are worthy of comment . They are nothing short of the worst kind of Propaganda which would raise eyebrows even in a hard line , authoritarian dictatorship .
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The ITV documentary was made for 5 and is called “The Real Adolescence: Our Killer Kids”. The production blames social media platforms for the quadruple rise in juvenile murders since 2016.
Last Thursday, BBC Scotland’s headline was “Swinney accused of being ‘weak’ on teenage knife crime at FMQs”!
Mr Sarwar had blamed the SNP for the creation of Police Scotland, and police officers tied up in the courts, instead of being on the streets!
This BBC article 👇 is dated 15th May 2025 and it’s timely!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0r1gpr0ezwo
“A BBC investigation has found young teenagers are being exposed to content about weapons, bullying, murder and suicide soon after joining social media platforms.
The project, which saw six fictional profiles set up as 13-15-year-olds, found they were shown the “worrying” posts within just minutes of scrolling on TikTok and YouTube. They were also guided to sexually suggestive content on Instagram.
Online safety expert David Wright said: “While the findings are concerning they are, unfortunately, not surprising.””
continues
“Ofcom is now enforcing the UK’s Online Safety Act*, external, and has finalised a series of child safety rules which will come into force for social media, search and gaming apps and websites on 25 July.
Mr Wright said regulation was a “vital step”, but “it must be matched by transparency, enforcement, and meaningful safety-by-design practices”, including algorithms being subject to scrutiny and support for children, parents and educators to identify and respond to potential risks.
“We must move beyond simply reacting to online harms and towards a proactive, systemic approach to child online safety,” he added.”
*This Act also applies to Scotland
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https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-safety-act-explainer/online-safety-act-explainer
“The Online Safety Act 2023 (the Act) is a new set of laws that protects children and adults online. It puts a range of new duties on social media companies and search services, making them more responsible for their users’ safety on their platforms. The Act will give providers new duties to implement systems and processes to reduce risks their services are used for illegal activity, and to take down illegal content when it does appear.”
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