Alcohol abuse responsible for most crime in Scotland

A staggering seven out of 10 of those accused of murder in Scotland had been drinking or on drugs, the cabinet secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill has revealed.

Speaking recently at the World Health Organisation Violence Prevention Milestones conference, held at the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan, Mr MacAskill admitted the statistics were stark. In addition, he told delegates that nearly half of Scotland’s 7,000 prisoners said they were drunk at the time they committed their offence.

He said: “We are located only a few miles from the site of the battle of Bannockburn and in the lee of the Wallace Monument. Symbols of Scotland’s fight for nationhood against an enemy from without. Now we face a battle against an enemy from within – alcohol abuse.

“Action must be taken; already our Government has indicated a need to tackle irresponsible promotion in off-sales and the availability of alcohol to minors. However, we now need to take it further to tackle the excuse of alcohol in criminal offending.”

Mr MacAskill told delegates that High Court judgements since the 1980s have made clear in common law that alcohol should not be regarded as a mitigating factor in crimes. But yet drink and disorder still appear together “in the dock as partners in crime.”

“The time is now right to review whether this message from the High Court is being heard clearly enough and consistently enough by those coming in front of all parts of the criminal justice system.”

Mr MacAskill has now asked officials to look at the current position and report back to him on how it could use a future Criminal Justice Bill to make a clear statement in law that being drunk will simply not be accepted in courts as an excuse for bad behaviour.

He admitted that the “old excuse that it was the drink that did it” was a phrase still used far too often in Scotland.

“No it wasn’t the drink that did it; it was you that did it,” he said.

“This is now accepted with drink driving. Get behind the wheel of a car while drunk and you will face severe consequences. Being drunk is no excuse. The same should apply whether you assault your wife, attack a passer by for no reason or behave in a loutish or ignorant manner. The excuses have to stop. Drunk offenders should expect a sobering experience every time they appear in our courts.”

Mr MacAskill rejected the idea that Scotland was a fundamentally violent country, but that there were “very real” problems to be tackled, not least the high levels alcohol fuelled violence in homes and on streets and the longstanding issue of knife crime.

He told delegates: “These are some of the issues for Scotland. They are likely to be issues for you in your own countries and I would hope this event will move us all one step closer to solving them once and for all.”