Professor John Robertson OBA

The Record and BBC Scotland today are headlining a report by the police officers trade union, the SPA, claiming:

A report has highlighted a “concerning increase” in the number of attempted murders carried out by children in Scotland. The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) paper, external said there were 17 attempted murders involving 20 children in the three months between April and June this year.

It means children were involved in almost a quarter of all attempted murders where a suspect was identified, with cases in nine separate divisions of Police Scotland. But the report found that the overall level of violence involving children had fallen compared to last year.

The evidence comes from a 3 month-only report with no actual data nor methodology offered. So, this dodgy piece of work gets headlined but BBC Scotland did not report:

Who will ever tell you this? Denmark, one of the safest places in the World, has more murders than Scotland and a murder rate only 0.004 per million lower

As the Southport inquiry resumes today, official figures reveal a dramatic fall in murder by knives in Scotland overall AND by young people, rubbishing the media reports here

As Daily Record ignores what really matters, official figures reveal dramatic fall in murder by knives in Scotland, overall AND by young people, rubbishing the media reports that they are scared to go out

Important facts for Scotland’s media and opposition leaders – As murder by minors increases four fold in England and Wales but it plummets to a quarter in Scotland after 18 years of SNP administration