Edinburgh crime: 10-year-old boy caught with 'blade weapon' by police

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A 10-year-old boy in Edinburgh was caught with a bladed weapon by police, new stop-and-search data has revealed.

And across Scotland, there were 123 cases where children aged between 10 and 17 were found with a weapons between April and September last year - accounting for more than a quarter of all positive weapons searches by police over the period.

The figures - which emerged from n analysis by policing and justice magazine 1919 - were described as “deeply disturbing” and Scottish Government ministers were accused of being “asleep at the wheel”.

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The 10-year-old was found with a bladed weapon following an incident in Edinburgh’s Portobello/Craigmillar ward in July 2024. The following month, a 12-year-old boy was found with a bladed weapon in Liberton/Gilmerton. And in September, a 13-year-old boy was found with a “pointed article” in Forth ward.

Several 12-year-olds across the country were searched and found to be carrying weapons and class B drugs, including a girl in Ayr in June. And in east Fife, a 14-year-old was caught with a firearm when officers were called to an incident in September.

Katy Clark, Scottish Labour’s community safety spokesperson, said: “The fact that children still young enough to play with toys are walking around with potential murder weapons is deeply disturbing.

“Not only does it create a potentially volatile situation for policing, but it is a sign that children are being led down a path of crime before they have even reached their teens.

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“The seeming increase of criminal behaviour is highly concerning. The SNP must support the police to work with schools, social workers and others supporting young people while also ensuring they have the resources to tackle the organised criminals who are bringing these weapons into our communities in the first place.”

And Scottish Conservative justice spokesperson Liam Kerr said: “SNP ministers have been asleep at the wheel while crime has spiralled out of control in Scotland, and more and more youngsters are at risk of getting caught up in such offences.

“They need to wake up to the gravity of this situation and ensure that our children are educated against falling into a life of crime and also provide police with the resources they need to keep communities safe.”

But the Scottish Governmentsaid £4 million had been invested in violence prevention over the past two years while 1.3 million young people across Scotland had been supported through various community and education initiatives.

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A government spokesperson said: “It is wrong to suggest that crime has spiralled out of control when recorded crime is down 40 per cent since 2006/07.

“It is unacceptable that any child or young person is caught with weapons, drugs or stolen goods. Preventing children from going down a path where they are in conflict with the law and supporting them appropriately, constructively and effectively when they do, has been integral to our approach for over a decade.”

Scottish Police Federation chair David Threadgold said: “Police officers who face members of the public in possession of knives or any other weapon are required to make immediate decisions to try to de-escalate those situations, and there are occasions where it is simply impossible to establish the age of the person involved.

“As police officers have largely withdrawn from school environments, the visibility of the police in our communities is less – and the police are seen in communities as merely a reactive force.

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“Along with a reducing – if any – preventative element to policing, opportunities are being missed to develop the type of relationships and intelligence gathering that may form part of the solution to this.”

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