Attacks on 999 crews rise in North Ayrshire

Attacks on emergency services in North Ayrshire increased towards the end of last year, a new report has revealed.

Members of the Police and Fire and Rescue Committee heard between October and December 2024, there was a six per cent rise of reports of common assault on 999 crews from the previous 12 months.

The figures given showed this was a 15.7 per cent increase on the five-year average.

Councillors were told overall, violent crime in North Ayrshire was on the up.

Chief Superintendent Suzie Chow said: “Violent crime has decreased by 0.2 per cent on last year but increased 11.8 per cent on the five-year average.

“This increase is mainly due to the number of common assaults on emergency workers and members of the public.

“Serious Assaults are currently showing a higher figure than last year but lower than the five-year average.”

There have been six attempted murders this year which are all detected.

The five murders include two culpable homicide crimes, both of which relate to a fatal road collision; all murders or culpable homicides are detected.

In terms of serious assaults during this quarter, 20 crimes have been recorded, 18 of those detected with two live investigations.

The crimes were spread throughout North Ayrshire having taken place in both public and private space.

Four of the crimes are related to two incidents while the rest are unrelated. During this reporting period there were two attempted murders in North Ayrshire, one detected and one subject of a live enquiry.

There was one detected murder within the current period which occurred in Kilwinning where local policing was supported by the Major Investigation Team.

All significant crimes of violence are subject to scrutiny and managed by the Criminal Investigation Department supported by Priority Policing and Locality teams.

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