Demand for a ban on the commercial sale of fireworks continues to grow
Calls come following Bonfire Night disorder in Niddrie and Halloween horror in Kirkton
Calls to see a ban on the commercial sale of fireworks is continuing to grow.
The demand has grown following serious incidents of anti-social behaviour with the use of fireworks in Niddrie on Bonfire Night and similar incidents in the Kirkotn area of Dundee on Halloween.
Calling for a ban
The Scottish Burned Children's Club plan to write to the Justice Minister calling for a ban on the sale of all fireworks to the general public.
Alan Masterton, a spokesperson for the charity, wants to see offenders educated on the dangers of fireworks. He said: "Fireworks should be made available at public displays only. We're talking about explosives available for sale to these gangs of people who have no intention of using them for enjoyment."
He added: "Instead of serving whatever weeks they're going to serve in young offenders institutions they maybe have to do some community time in burns units. So that they can see the devastating effect fireworks burns cause to human beings, which are horrific.
"We just have to hope that the Police get enough photographs of the offenders and enough help from the local community to have them rounded up. There has to be a demonstration of sanction with them, and perhaps, part of that is removing the availability of explosives from shops."
How are Police reacting?
Following the incidents in Dundee some supermarkets made the decision to remove fireworks from sale following calls from MSPs Joe FitzPatrick and Michael Marra. Chairman of the Scottish Police Federation David Hamilton is echoing the calls.
He said: "There's a real role here for retailers who can turn around and say we're not going to supply these anymore. A number of the big supermarkets have done that because they understand and apricate the damage and distress that these cause to their customers and their communities."
He added: "Let's be quite clear, these are explosive devices that are getting targeted at people. It's absolutely reckless to the extreme and really putting lives at risk. These are human beings that are trying to keep their communities safe.
"A number of years ago, a officer who wasn't properly equipped, got very badly burned when a firework got lodged in her body armour and caused horrendous disfigurement. It really is so reckless to be using fireworks in this way."
On how incidents are being Policed, David Hamilton said: "We've got many different ways of which we can capture people. There will be a lot of CCTV evidence and already we're seeing in Dundee, from last week, a lot of detections come through and people appearing in court for mobbing and rioting and you can expect to see this in Edinburgh too.
"Communities need to take responsibility for themselves. They need to be saying, is this the kind of society we wish to live in? They know who these people are. They need to come forward and speak to Police Scotland officers who are investigating and tell them who it is and what's been happening."
'An adult conversation about their continued use'
Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Alex Cole-Hamilton wants to see improvements made to legislation which would see the commercial sale of fireworks brought to an end.
The Edinburgh West MSP said: "Bonfire Night is meant to be fun. It's meant to be a family occasion, it's part of our traditions, so it would be a shame to bring in legislation that really ended the use of fireworks, but somethings got to change.
"Right now the indiscriminate use of particularly loud and intrusive fireworks in an anti-social behaviour way is not just dangerous for public safety but it also causes real problems for pets, for people with learning difficulties.
"We need to have an adult conversation about their continued use and maybe strengthen things like licencing so that the commercial sale of fireworks is just brought to an end."