Overview

• Police Scotland data show 91 individuals under 18—including a 10-year-old—were caught with bladed or pointed weapons last year.
• Analysis by 1919 magazine finds teenagers made up nearly a third of positive knife searches, averaging one under-18 case every four days.
• Recent stabbing deaths of Amen Teklay and Kayden Moy have heightened fears of a burgeoning youth violence epidemic in Scotland.
• Scottish Labour urges early intervention schemes and blames cuts to youth work services and mental health support for worsening the crisis.
• Scottish Tories demand harsher punishments and expanded stop and search powers, while police leaders defend intelligence-led searches as essential for public safety.