1,200 Under 10's 'Involved In Crime'

More than 1,200 children aged under 10 were detected for offences across Scotland over the past two years, new figures have shown. Vandalism and crimes of dishonesty made up the bulk of instances recorded by police but there were also 11 incidents of violence and 19 of indecency. The figures, uncovered following a freedom of information request by the Scottish Conservatives, showed there were a total of 1,211 under-10s detected. The party's justice spokeswoman Margaret Mitchell said: These figures are clearly alarming, and should be a cause for concern right across society."The obvious question is what are the parents doing while children this young are running riot." More worryingly, this is not an isolated problem affecting one area but rather an issue right across the country."What a sad indictment it is of Scotland in the 21st century that children at such a young age embark on a life of crime. Worse still, experience shows that when an individual goes down that path it is very difficult to turn back." Quite simply if these youngsters aren't dissuaded from criminal activity they face a dismal, dead-end future.''