‘Wave of sex crimes’ in Scotland as numbers reach highest level in 50 years

Sexual offences recorded by Police Scotland have up 15% on last year

Scottish Conservatives said that sex crime figures were ‘spiralling out of control’ (PA)

The number of sex crimes recorded in Scotland is at the highest point in 50 years, new figures reveal.

Data from Police Scotland showed 15,049 sex crimes were recorded last year, a 15 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.

The Scottish Conservatives said the figures showed sexual violence was “spiralling out of control”, while the Scottish Liberal Democrats accused the SNP of “presiding over a wave of violent and sexual crime.”

In a report from Scotland’s chief statistician, the rising numbers were described as a “long-term, upward trend.”

It revealed sex crimes made up 5 percent of all crimes last year.

Cases of rape and attempted rape were among those which increased, with 2,498 recorded last year.

Cyber-related sexual violence has also risen from 1,100 cases in 2013-14 to 4,210 in 2012-22.

Non-sexual violent crimes also increased last year, from 61,913 in 2020-21 to 69,826 in 2021-22.

Overall crime figures have dropped, probably because of the fall in coronavirus-related crime (PA)

However overall levels of recorded crime fell by 4 per cent, from 299,452 to 286,464.

This is thought to be because of the dramatic fall in coronavirus-related offences.

A Scottish government spokesperson said: “Scotland continues to be a safe place to live. Recorded crime is at its lowest level since 1974 and considerably lower than a decade ago.”