Professor John Robertson OBA
In the Law Society of Scotland Journal in July 2025:
Criminologist Ross Deuchar presents insights from his research into Scottish gang culture, and makes the case for the courts to apply supportive, problem-solving approaches to the teenagers and young adults affected.
While in England young people are sent out from their own towns with drugs to be sold in provincial markets (known as ‘County Lines’ dealing; see Harding, 2020), the young men I interviewed tended to suggest that drugs are most commonly collected from afar before being brought back to Scotland and sold within or around the home town, village or city.
This finding reinforces the position held here, for years now, but evaded in MSM, that Scotland’s drug problems are being exacerbated by an influx of cheap and more powerful drugs into parts of the country, even small villages, by drug gangs employing new levels of violence and based entirely in English cities.
The wider evidence for the above claim:
In just one day, Aberdeen’s P&J has two reports of English drug gangs occupying homes in the city to sell new more powerful low cost drugs and, in so doing keep drug deaths high, despite the efforts of the SNP Government which has oversight of a world-leading opium overdose reversal drug programme (Naloxone) and a drug treatment programme running a a target-busting 95%+ treated within three weeks.
The P&J has been reporting this plague for years.
In December 2021, more than three years ago, the had
BBC Scotland have never mentioned the word ‘English’ in their reports of drug gangs not mentioned any English city. The did report the above cases, in these words:
Two men who carried out a violent attack on a disabled man in Peterhead have each been jailed for more than six years.
Jack Cleary, 20, tipped the man from his wheelchair and stabbed him in the leg with a knife before pouring salt in the wound in May 2022.
Ewan Hardie, 52, joined Cleary for a later second assault on the victim.
The men admitted assault to the danger of life. Cleary was jailed for six years and eight months at the High Court in Edinburgh, and Hardie received six years and nine months.
Cleary was 18 when he threatened to stab his 52-year-old victim in the eyes with hypodermic syringes and struck him with a baseball bat as he lay on the floor of a flat.
He robbed him of a mobile phone, bank card and medication, but returned with Hardie to inflict further violence.
During the follow-up attack the victim was pulled from his wheelchair and dragged along the ground with a belt around his neck until he blacked out.
Defence counsel Tony Lenehan KC said Cleary was a young man who had become “enmeshed in the drugs underworld and was guided by others”.
He said: “He behaved in a dreadful manner. There is no question about that. There is remorse shown.”
Solicitor advocate Jim Stephenson for Hardie, who has 150 previous convictions, said: “He has been blighted by drink and drugs. He fully understands he will receive a custodial sentence for this matter.”
Judge Lord Armstrong said “extreme violence” was used and it had “devastating and ongoing long-term negative consequences”.
Anything missing? Just the word ‘English.’ Not in the public interest?
How are the drug deaths being kept high?
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There have been two stories in the P&J this week. Neither specify English involvement but one about major drugs busts in Aberdeen would infer English gangs and the other highlighting the blight of drug dealing in Inverness.
Rgds,
Graham
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/crime-courts/6822832/watch-police-clampdown-on-crack-cocaine-gang/
WATCH: Police clampdown on north-east crack cocaine gang with co-ordinated raids
Our reporters joined uniformed and undercover officers today as police raided homes and premises associated with the organised crime group.
August 6 2025, 5:07 pm
Police have carried out co-ordinated raids targeting a notorious north-east crack gang.
Officers spent months monitoring the organised criminal group’s heroin and crack dealing before striking its operations on multiple occasions, including today.
One of the reasons they are tackling the gang is due to the number of drug deaths in the region.
Under the command of the North Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit, officers raided properties throughout Aberdeen, with The Press and Journal in tow.
We joined uniformed and undercover officers to witness police raid a flat in the Tillydrone area of the city.
After officers searched and secured the premises, we joined a team raiding a commercial premises in Northfield.
In total, police raided 12 locations earlier today.
They arrested two men, aged 30 and 42, and they are due to appear at Aberdeen Sheriff Court tomorrow.
Those leading the operation highlighted how adept the gang is at pivoting once police disrupt their criminal operations.
Gang members often shut up one crack den and quickly open another.
Detective Inspector John Pirie said: “We have been monitoring an organised crime group responsible for supplying crack cocaine and heroin into Aberdeen – predominantly north Aberdeen and north Aberdeenshire.
“They are a pretty agile group and they react to our presence.
“For example, we’ve had to react to a change in information today to adjust the enforcement we’re taking.”
Violence and intimidation
Highlighting the scope of the gang, DI Pirie said: “We know the group are responsible for acts of violence and intimidation within our community.
“For a significant period, there has been intelligence received in relation to the group and what they’ve been involved in in terms of the supply of drugs.
“We’ve also been aware of the associated anti-social behaviour and deaths caused by drugs and the general upset that it causes the community.
“Today was a real opportunity to target those playing significant roles in orchestrating drug dealing within our community.”
Today’s police action follows previous activity in which officers have arrested 21 alleged gang members and associates and seized heroin and cocaine worth £1.3m.
DI Pirie said: “Today is the culmination of six or seven months of work.
Relatives helping gang leaders
“Over those months, we’ve made a number of arrests and today we have been targeting key members of the group, associates of the group, and their family members.”
Explaining why police were targeting commercial premises, DI Pirie said: “These organised crime groups have strong networks of people.
“That involves lots of money coming through the system, which in turn involves money laundering.
“They use shops, families and associates to launder that money.
“People are acutely aware of the footprint these groups have in the community.
“So we need to target not only the individuals responsible for this crime, but also their wider network, including business premises.
‘We have to pick up the pieces’
“It shows our commitment to targeting those at the very top of the chain, to have an impact right through the system.
“The police and other organisations have to pick up the pieces from those criminal actions.
“There is an expectation from the public that we will deal with these matters.”
DI Pirie added: “This operation shows our commitment to the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce and forms just a part of Police Scotland’s ongoing work to make it as difficult as possible for these groups to operate in our communities.
“When an organised crime group becomes established in an area, its drug-dealing activities can have a domino effect into wider offences, including antisocial behaviour, theft and serious violence.
“These criminals don’t care about anyone other than themselves, power and money.
“Their criminality is simply not welcome in the north-east and will not be tolerated.
“We cannot do this alone and need the public’s help to rid our communities of these illegal activities.
“Anyone with information or concerns should contact police on 101 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, if you wish to remain anonymous.”
——————————————
This is the report from Inverness with drug dealing prominent within:
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/inverness/6823288/inverness-central-crime-drugs-vandalism-news-feature/
Inverness community ranked as one of Scotland’s crime hotspots, but neighbours defend city arguing ‘we look out for each other’
The P&J spoke to locals in Merkinch, South Kessock and the city centre after police data revealed Inverness Central has the second highest rate of crime in Scotland for offences like vandalism or drug possession.
August 7 2025, 6:00 am
An area of Inverness with one of the highest rates of crime in Scotland for several offences has been defended by city residents.
Police Scotland statistics show that Inverness Central, which covers areas such as the city centre, Merkinch and South Kessock, had the nation’s second highest rate for incidents of damage and reckless behaviour in 2024.
This includes offences such as vandalism and fire-raising.
It also had the second highest rate in Scotland for crimes against society, per head of population, which covers offences like drug possession, drug supply, fraud or carrying of knives.
Only an area of Glasgow city centre had a higher rate of the offences in the country.
Inverness Central also ranked third for crimes of dishonesty, which include theft and shoplifting.
This week, The P&J hit the streets of Merkinch, South Kessock and Inverness city centre to see residents’ reaction to the shocking statistics.
We asked them if they have noticed an increase in crime lately and whether they feel safe in their neighbourhoods.
‘Slashed tyres, cars damaged and fights’: How is vandalism affecting Merkinch and South Kessock neighbours?
We asked several neighbours in Merkinch and South Kessock if they have experienced any vandalism.
Clarke Kent, 67, who lives in Upper Kessock Street, explained that he has had his car “damaged three times in the past three years”.
“Last time, it was a schoolkid who kicked the rear-view mirror,” he said.
The resident, who moved to Merkinch eight years ago, added that the neighbourhood is “quiet” in the morning, but “changes at night”.
He said: “Saturday nights you hear shouting and arguments about drinks and drugs.
“Some Saturday nights I hear fights outside my garden. People don’t do anything and close the curtains because they are scared.”
He also believes there is now less police in the area.
He explained: “When I came to the neighbourhood there was always a police officer cycling around but that stopped around two years ago.
“Maybe he didn’t do much, but his presence made the neighbourhood feel safer.”
Kaspars Eisaks, who lives near the Old Ferry Terminal, told The P&J that “There is lots of crime, drugs and fights in South Kessock.”
“I see plenty cars on Kessock Road with flat tyres,” he said.
The 44-year-old said things are now “better” for him, as he used to have a neighbour who was a heroin addict.
He explained: “I had 10 to 15 people knocking on my window at night. I started taking antidepressants for that reason. I asked the council for help, but they didn’t do anything.”
Meanwhile, a 72-year-old woman waiting for the bus on Grant Street was surprised by Police Scotland’s crime figures for Inverness Central.
The Anderson Court resident said: “When I came here 26 years ago it was dreadful but it’s getting better.”
However, she pointed at the broken bus stop.
She said: “The bus stop was smashed a few years ago. The council fixed it, but it was broken again.”
“It lets the fresh air in, and we need fresh air, don’t we?” She joked.
Merkinch and South Kessock neighbours on community’s drug problem
A man also waiting at Grant Street bus stop explained he has “never had a problem”.
The 64-year-old, who has lived in South Kessock for 20 years, thinks “it’s definitely worse in other areas.”
However, he admits that there is a “big” drug problem, adding it is Highland and Scotland-wide.
A 62-year-old Nelson Street neighbour said she feels “fairly safe” around the area.
“We keep to ourselves and stay away from trouble. We all know who causes trouble,” she said.
However, the resident claims to see “a lot of drug dealers around”.
She said: “We see that every time, it’s never far away from anyone in Inverness.”
On a similar note, Mary Evans, 76, who runs the Merkinch Community Shop and Sheila, 64, said it is not uncommon to “see people dealing in front of you”.
“For example, in Dalneigh, they do it in front of the community centre, you can tell what they are doing but they don’t bother anyone and keep themselves to themselves,” they explained.
Merkinch and South Kessock residents praise ‘strong sense of community’
However, the charity shop workers think crime is “not worse than anywhere else”, adding they’ve “always felt safe” in Inverness.
They said: “We’re a community. We all look for each other. It’s a good community.
“We care about people. I’ve seen people with nothing giving something to someone with even less.
“At the shop, if someone who can’t pay comes and needs something we just give it away.
“One time, we gave away suits to an entire family who needed them for a funeral.”
On nearby Nelson Street, Jane Cunningham, 70, also praised the “strong sense of community” in the neighbourhood.
She explained: “I’ve never had a problem here and I’ve lived here for 25 years.
“I’ve seen fighting, but biggest problem is the rubbish drunken people dump on the street, like chippy boxes or juice cardboards.
“But here’s a strong sense of community in the area, although I think it used to be stronger.
“However, I’ve had young people offering to carry my bags, it’s a nice community. I feel people here are friendly. I like it here.”
Are Inverness city centre businesses affected by drugs and vandalism?
We asked shoppers walking around the city centre if they have ever had any issues at the heart of Inverness.
Mary Anderson, 57, explained she has “never had” an issue in the city centre.
Meanwhile, Lynn, 57, who was walking on the High Street, also said she has “never had a problem” either.
However, both added that they only come in the morning for shopping.
After speaking to them, we asked Inverness businesses if they have had any crime-related issues.
Mehmet Dag, 60, who runs Baron Tayloring on Baron Taylor Street, also said he has “never had a problem” and that he feels “safe” in the area.
Viorel Lascar, 30, who works at the Highland Mobile repair shop on Lombard Street, told The P&J that he has not “encountered any problems”.
Lascar, who also lives in the city centre, added: “I wouldn’t say it’s a dangerous town; it seems quiet to me.
“Police do a lot of rounds, sometimes you can see them twice a day. I feel very safe working here. I’m from Romania, I know what dangerous is like.”
Meanwhile, Tahir Siddique, 50, owner of MAX’s 2 Kebab shop, which opens until 3am, has had more negative experiences.
He told The P&J: “We’ve been here for 20 years and I’ve seen vandalism many times.
“Plenty times they’ve broken our window. One day last year, a guy made a hole with a hammer just to take the charity boxes.”
He continued: “There are fights every weekend. Obviously here there are plenty of drugs and people dealing on the street. Police don’t do anything about it either.”
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There have been two stories in the P&J (Wed and Thursday), the first about the Police in Aberdeen conducting extensive operations against organsed drug gangs, which doesn’t specify English, but the quantities and complexity of the operation would suggest so. The second is about the social problems in inverness with drug dealing prominently featured.
Here’s the first one.
Rgds,
Graham
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/crime-courts/6822832/watch-police-clampdown-on-crack-cocaine-gang/
WATCH: Police clampdown on north-east crack cocaine gang with co-ordinated raids
Our reporters joined uniformed and undercover officers today as police raided homes and premises associated with the organised crime group.
August 6 2025, 5:07 pm
Police have carried out co-ordinated raids targeting a notorious north-east crack gang.
Officers spent months monitoring the organised criminal group’s heroin and crack dealing before striking its operations on multiple occasions, including today.
One of the reasons they are tackling the gang is due to the number of drug deaths in the region.
Under the command of the North Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit, officers raided properties throughout Aberdeen, with The Press and Journal in tow.
We joined uniformed and undercover officers to witness police raid a flat in the Tillydrone area of the city.
After officers searched and secured the premises, we joined a team raiding a commercial premises in Northfield.
In total, police raided 12 locations earlier today.
They arrested two men, aged 30 and 42, and they are due to appear at Aberdeen Sheriff Court tomorrow.
Those leading the operation highlighted how adept the gang is at pivoting once police disrupt their criminal operations.
Gang members often shut up one crack den and quickly open another.
Detective Inspector John Pirie said: “We have been monitoring an organised crime group responsible for supplying crack cocaine and heroin into Aberdeen – predominantly north Aberdeen and north Aberdeenshire.
“They are a pretty agile group and they react to our presence.
“For example, we’ve had to react to a change in information today to adjust the enforcement we’re taking.”
Violence and intimidation
Highlighting the scope of the gang, DI Pirie said: “We know the group are responsible for acts of violence and intimidation within our community.
“For a significant period, there has been intelligence received in relation to the group and what they’ve been involved in in terms of the supply of drugs.
“We’ve also been aware of the associated anti-social behaviour and deaths caused by drugs and the general upset that it causes the community.
“Today was a real opportunity to target those playing significant roles in orchestrating drug dealing within our community.”
Today’s police action follows previous activity in which officers have arrested 21 alleged gang members and associates and seized heroin and cocaine worth £1.3m.
DI Pirie said: “Today is the culmination of six or seven months of work.
Relatives helping gang leaders
“Over those months, we’ve made a number of arrests and today we have been targeting key members of the group, associates of the group, and their family members.”
Explaining why police were targeting commercial premises, DI Pirie said: “These organised crime groups have strong networks of people.
“That involves lots of money coming through the system, which in turn involves money laundering.
“They use shops, families and associates to launder that money.
“People are acutely aware of the footprint these groups have in the community.
“So we need to target not only the individuals responsible for this crime, but also their wider network, including business premises.
‘We have to pick up the pieces’
“It shows our commitment to targeting those at the very top of the chain, to have an impact right through the system.
“The police and other organisations have to pick up the pieces from those criminal actions.
“There is an expectation from the public that we will deal with these matters.”
DI Pirie added: “This operation shows our commitment to the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce and forms just a part of Police Scotland’s ongoing work to make it as difficult as possible for these groups to operate in our communities.
“When an organised crime group becomes established in an area, its drug-dealing activities can have a domino effect into wider offences, including antisocial behaviour, theft and serious violence.
“These criminals don’t care about anyone other than themselves, power and money.
“Their criminality is simply not welcome in the north-east and will not be tolerated.
“We cannot do this alone and need the public’s help to rid our communities of these illegal activities.
“Anyone with information or concerns should contact police on 101 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, if you wish to remain anonymous.”
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Thanks Graham
John
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I can’t get the 2nd link to the Inverness story to post for whatever reason but the important one is above.
Rgds,
Graham
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I found Mr Deuchar’s article for the Law journal plausible, or, at least it coincided to a fair extent with my own opinions.
Undoubtedly, the ‘problem solving’ approach being advocated and, apparently, being used by Sheriffs is an effective way of dealing with youthful offending. This has been known for many decades, but our baleful media and some equally baleful politicians want ‘birching’, the reintroduction of ‘hard labour’ and, ideally, ‘hanging’..
The Scottish Violence Reduction Unit’s ‘Navigator’ programme in Glasgow and Edinburgh, has done useful work. It’s officers are based in A&E at Glasgow and Edinburgh Royal Infirmaries.
The substantial reduction in exclusions from school in Scotland and the requirement to ensure excludees have an educational programme means few young people are ‘lost’ from the system as they are in England. The close collaboration amongst schools, social work and police facilitates this. Schools in Scotland are still under local authority control.
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These low lifes preying on the disabled should be locked up for far longer than six years and will they get out after three or four? They will carry on with their violent crimes once released. Also does Scotland have to fork out to keep them locked up in Scotland? I presume they are not sent back to England to serve their short sentences there…
Will SNP MSP’s ever mention this at Holyrood and make sure to mention it’s being brought in from ENGLAND?
The drugs gangs will be being paid by some rich boss, and of course it’s what
neighbouring countries do to undermine a democratic country and their government, create havoc and import violent gangs, it happens all the time in Latin America. Maduro, president of Venezuela is resisting the US attempts to take down their country and government as the US has done in the past when they used violent gangs and masses of drugs being imported etc.
Scotland’s, no sorry I meant England’s media in Scotland, will continue to ignore the facts, the BritNat state needs the ‘media’ to lie and propagandise about Scotland as much as possible, their stranglehold on Scotland is loosening, and that is not something they will tolerate, they have far too much to lose should they lose Scotland.
NO thanks to these ENGLISH drugs gangs. The Scottish Police needs to be more active in stamping this out pronto.
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