A 21-year-old man has been sentenced to six years in prison for violent offences against women in Edinburgh, including endangering life.
Charlie Swain appeared at Edinburgh High Court today -Friday, 9 October, 2026 – having been convicted at the same court in August.
Detective Sergeant Euan Stobie said: “Swain is a dangerous individual who subjected women to horrific, violent attacks, which has understandably had a profound impact on them.
“I would like to acknowledge the support provided by those involved throughout the investigation and court process, and I hope this sentence brings them some form of closure.
“Police Scotland remains absolutely committed to tackling violence against women and girls and is determined to bring those responsible to justice. I would encourage anyone who has been a victim of such crimes to come forward and report it to us.
“We will thoroughly investigate and have specially trained officers and partner agencies to support you throughout.”
A man has been sentenced to six years in prison following a series of sexual assaults, including attempted rape against two children in Edinburgh.
Along with his custodial sentence, Akbar Ali was also placed on the sex offenders register at the High Court in Livingston on Wednesday, 30 September, 2026.
He was previously convicted of the crimes, which took place between 1996 and 1998, on Friday, 7 August, 2026 at the same court.
Detective Inspector Steph Garnett said: “Ali subjected child victims to years of horrific abuse, causing lasting trauma and having a profound impact on their lives.
“I would like to acknowledge their incredible strength in coming forward, and throughout the investigation and court process.
“Sexual crime of any kind has no place in society and we remain committed to supporting victims and bringing those responsible to justice.
“I would encourage anyone who has experienced sexual assault to report it to police. Every report will be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated.”
Young people reveal how adult criminals exploit children to commit crime in Scotland
A new Scotland-wide campaign was launched yesterday warning that adult criminals are grooming and exploiting children to commit crime, enabling them to profit while leaving children to face the risks and consequences.
The campaign, created by Fearless – the youth service of the independent charity Crimestoppers – is shaped by young people with lived experience of crime, exploitation and the justice system. It challenges adults across Scotland to look beyond behaviour and recognise the criminal exploitation of children for what it is: child abuse.
Launching at the Grosvenor Picture Theatre in Glasgow, the campaign includes new films and social media content for young people, parents, carers and professionals, and has been developed with support from Scottish Government, Police Scotland’s Retail Crime Taskforce and the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit.
Young people told Fearless that exploitation does not always feel like exploitation from the inside. Adults can use trust, friendship, money, status and protection to draw children into criminal activity, particularly when the child feels other options are limited.
But one young person reflected:“You’re not getting paid to carry or sell the drugs. You’re getting paid to take the risk.”
That insight sits at the heart of the new campaign.
The campaign asks children to look more closely at what is really being offered to them. Criminal exploitation often sees adults profiting, while transferring the greatest risks onto children. The arrest, the violence, the debt, the injury, the criminal record and the consequences are carried by the child, while those directing the activity remain further removed from harm.
Over several months, Fearless listened to young people speak openly about criminal exploitation and the realities they see around them. They talked about violence, arrest, drugs, debt, weapons and being deprived of their liberty. They also spoke about what criminal exploitation appeared to offer and why it could feel difficult to walk away from.
The conversations revealed something many adults struggle to understand. Many young people already know the terrible risks they face. What they challenged Fearless to understand is that awareness of risk is not always enough to help them when the alternative feels like being left with nothing.
The campaign also challenges adults to hold two truths at once.
Some children who are victims of criminal exploitation cause harm – sometimes serious harm. But children can cause harm while also being harmed themselves. It’s not about excusing behaviour – it’s about understanding that there can be a wide range of reasons for offending behaviour, including exploitation.
Fearless is urging adults not to stop at what they can see:
To stay curious
To consider who is actually benefiting
And to ask what might be happening behind the behaviour
The campaign also explores why children do not always feel able to leave these situations.
While fear, threats and violence can be part of criminal exploitation, young people told Fearless that leaving is often about more than what they are escaping. Sometimes it is about what they fear being left without.
As one young person explained:“People don’t leave because there’s nothing there for them. What would they be left with?”
If criminal exploitation appears to offer opportunity, belonging, protection or hope, then safer alternatives must feel real enough to compete.
The campaign argues that it is not enough to tell children what to walk away from – communities, services and trusted adults must also give them something worth walking towards.
Children need more than a route away from harm. They need genuine opportunities, meaningful connections, hope for the future and a sense that they matter.
Lyndsay McDade, Fearless Scotland Manager, said:“I am so grateful to the young people who helped develop this campaign. I asked them to be honest with me, and they were. Never have I been more struck by the level of hopelessness some young people are living with, and yet by their determination to help us understand their reality and get this campaign right.
“Young people, children the same age as my own, shared stories that no child should have to live through. What struck me most was the compassion they showed when talking about other children who were being exploited. They could see the circumstances, pressures and lack of choices facing others, yet they rarely afforded themselves the same understanding.
“Many do not recognise that they are being exploited because what they are experiencing feels normal to them. They often see it as simply the choices they have to make to get by. But those choices are frequently being made in a landscape of limited and harmful alternatives, where what feels like survival comes at a terrible cost and where an adult is manipulating a child’s circumstances for their own gain.
“The people exploiting children should never be offering them what can feel like the strongest sense of opportunity, belonging or hope in their lives. Yet for some children, I fear that is the reality.
“Every child deserves a future bigger than the one their exploiters have planned for them. No child should be written off as too difficult, too risky or too far gone.
“If you know who is exploiting young people, you can speak up 100% anonymously to our charity. At fearless.org, we cannot track your IP address or any contact details that could identify you.”
Children and Young People Minister Siobhian Brown said:“The criminal exploitation of children and young people is an abhorrent crime. Those who are exploited must be recognised as victims of child abuse and given the protection and support they need.
“I am pleased that the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and Fearless are jointly funding this important campaign, whose powerful messages have been shaped by the voices and experiences of young people themselves.
“The Scottish Government is working to protect children and young people from this type of harm. Our Trafficking and Exploitation Strategy Delivery Plan includes action to reduce the criminalisation of exploited children and implement new child criminal exploitation and cuckooing offences in the Crime and Policing Act 2026.
“We’re also developing Scotland’s approach to contextual safeguarding to protect children and young people from harms posed to them from outside their homes.”
Assistant Chief Constable Catriona Paton said:“Every child deserves to be safe from harm and exploitation. This campaign is seeking to protect children from manipulation and exploitation by criminals involved in drug dealing, shoplifting and other crime, often leaving them to face the risks and consequences alone.
“Listening to the experiences of young people is vital if we are to understand the pressures and vulnerabilities that can place them at risk. I thank Fearless for amplifying those voices and providing a safe space for children to connect and communicate.
“Police Scotland is committed to working with partners to safeguard children, support those affected by exploitation, and ensure those responsible are identified and held accountable.”
To help parents, carers and professionals access further information and support:
Chief Constable Jo Farrell yesterday (Thursday, 24 September) praised partners and officers who supported the largest and most co-ordinated human trafficking operation in Scotland.
During a public meeting of the Scottish Police Authority Board in Glasgow, Chief Constable Farrell thanked those involved in deployments which led to 36 arrests and the discovery of cannabis farms with an estimated value of around £3m.
Over the last 36 hours, around 300 officers have been carrying out co-ordinated intelligence led enforcement action targeting those suspected of being involved in human trafficking and exploitation.
We deployed simultaneously yesterday across a number of towns and cities across the country, targeting a number of addresses. We’ve made to date 36 arrests, seized 14 cannabis farms and number of pieces of evidence – digital devices, cash and identity documents which have all been recovered and will be examined.
Alongside the enforcement that has been carried out we worked with Justice and Care who are a third sector agency that support victims of exploitation and trafficking. Their collective focus with Police Scotland is in relation to safeguarding vulnerable people.
The action that has been taken is the biggest and most coordinated human trafficking operation Police Scotland has ever had. It followed close joint working by our Human Trafficking Unit and with partners including the Home Office, National Crime Agency and HMRC, supported by local policing officers and Operational Support Division, among others, and in close consultation with colleagues at the Crown.
This was a carefully planned and important operation to disrupt and tackle an international concern which impacts communities right across Scotland.
Criminal justice proceedings are now active, and we will continue to work with Crown colleagues and others in relation to this important area. I will just finish that section by thanking Detective Chief Superintendent Sarah Taylor, and Superintendent Stevie Bertram and all our teams and partners who played their parts in this significant operation.
Moving on to my report, and I note that the busy summer period for policing was highlighted by the operation to support a safe and secure Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Under the Operational name Lannair, this was part of a professional and planned multi-agency approach which enabled us to deliver this important international event that brought thousands of visitors to Scotland.
Policing has an ongoing key role in supporting cohesive and resilient communities which stand together and enable people and businesses to thrive and flourish and our officers, staff, and volunteers work every day to improve lives, prevent crime and keep people safe.
I have been clear previously and I will reiterate that individuals who bring hate, disorder, violence and criminality to Glasgow and other communities across Scotland are to be condemned, identified, and held to account for offending.
My report outlines progress in relation to ongoing investigations into violence and disorder in Glasgow on 25 July, with a total of 30 arrests, and in relation to disorder following Celtic’s Premiership title win in May, with a total of 50 arrests so far.
My message is clear. Policing stands with our partners and the citizens we serve to ensure people feel safe and to enable our communities to thrive. Where criminality occurs, we will identify, investigate perpetrators and take appropriate action.
More recent events, including protest and football in Glasgow during the weekend of 12 and 13 September and last weekend passed without significant disruption and we will continue to work with partners and the public to ensure the city is a welcoming and safe environment.
I am grateful to Members for their interest in our policing operations on Sunday in Glasgow, which included a session at the event room in Govan and was a positive opportunity to provide to you a detailed overview of the policing of those events and stakeholder engagement as part of these events.
Engagement and collaboration across broader city stakeholders and partners are key to that, both with local authorities, COPFS, court service colleagues, and British Transport Police and others. They continue to play a significant role in supporting a successful operation and ensuring people are safe.
Returning to my report, and during the busy summer period, policing has been working with partners to prevent harm, and my report illustrates some of this work in relation to violence which affects young people and in relation to motorcyclists, who are killed and injured at a higher rate than other road users.
In August, along with the Scottish Government, Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, Fearless Scotland, and other partners, we had a week-long focus on violence prevention and the work that is delivered right across the country, throughout the year.
Violence Prevention Week was an opportunity to listen to and understand the perspective of young people, reflect on diversionary work at a local level, and hear powerful testimony from Lisa Petrie, whose son John McNab died in September 2025.
Motorcyclists represent less than one per cent of traffic on our roads but account for 18% of all road fatalities in Scotland, and our motorcycle safety campaign, focusing on education, enforcement and communication continues until September.
The devastation of road fatalities and injuries was strongly illustrated by the family of motorcyclist Ian Sloan, who lost his life in a motorcycle collision in June 2024.
I want to thank and pay tribute to people who have shared their stories to support efforts to prevent further harm.
Supporting safe and secure events, protecting the public, investigating criminality, preventing crime, and improving our response to violence against women and girls are made possible by the hard work of committed police officers, staff, and volunteers.
My report outlines last week’s sentencing of two men, each to 17 years’ imprisonment, for the attempted murder of PC Mark Smith, who powerfully described his experiences.
I welcome the sentences, which support an important message that police officers serving their community have a fundamental right to return home unharmed at the end of their shift and that those who meet them with violence are committing a serious crime, will be held to account, and there will be significant consequences.
There is a hero made in policing every day and it is the duty of all police leaders to support and enable our frontline to deliver for the people we serve, whether that is through providing resources, training, equipment, welfare support and aftercare where adverse incidents occur.
At the same time, recognising and respecting our people and their loved ones helps maintain a united policing family and strengthens the relationships that are crucial sources of support.
The Scottish Police Memorial Trust Service of Remembrance earlier this month was an opportunity to bring together some of our policing family and recognise the difficult, and at times dangerous, work of police officers and staff.
This year, that message of support extended to the families, friends, and colleagues of Cleveland Police Constables Tom Clough and Matthew Blades, whose devastating deaths on duty last month resonated across the UK policing family.
I want to thank Christine Fulton MBE for her tireless work leading the Memorial Trust and Scottish Police Authority Chair Alasdair Hay CBE QSFM, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice Neil Gray MSP, His Majesty’s Chief Inspectorate of Constabulary who all supported us at the event earlier in the month.
Lastly, my report outlines an ongoing schedule of engagement across military, Scottish Government, Scottish Parliament, local authorities, and criminal justice partners, much of which has been in collaboration with the Scottish Police Authority.
This includes Assistant Chief Constable Catriona Paton and Chief Superintendent Derek Cree’s evidence on policing’s response to mental health incidents at the Criminal Justice Committee, alongside you Chair last week.
Last week’s parliamentary debate, which followed that evidence session, underlined the growing consensus that too much need in this space is falling upon policing and that a system-wide response is required.
I also wanted to highlight yesterday’s engagement at parliament, including Chief Financial Officer Sarah Roughead’s contribution to the Finance and Public Administration Committee roundtable and ACC Mairs’s evidence to the Criminal Justice Committee in relation to domestic abuse.
Yesterday’s parliamentary engagement alongside SPA and SPA Forensics was also a hugely positive session and I want to thank Fulton MacGregor MSP for sponsoring the event, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice Neil Gray MSP for his support and all MSPs and partners who attended for their interest in policing.
As we develop the next phase of an aligned approach across business priorities, financial and workforce planning, and estates and digital transformation, strong communication and engagement will remain a focus for me and my senior team.
This will help us share progress towards our 2030 vision and being a collaborative partner in our forward planning.
Police Scotland has released images of six males officers believe can assist with ongoing enquiries into a serious assault in Edinburgh.
The incident happened around 10.55pm on Saturday, 29 August, 2026, on Rodney Street at the junction with Broughton Road.
A 34-year-old man was injured and required hospital treatment.
The males are all described as aged 16 to 18.
The first one has brown hair and was wearing a black hoodie with a white motif on the arm and chest, black trousers and black and white trainers.
The second is described as having black hair and was wearing a black hooded top and black trousers.
The third has brown hair and was wearing a grey t-shirt, black trousers and black trainers with a white line.
The fourth has blonde hair and wearing black rimmed glasses, a long sleeve grey top, grey shorts and white trainers with a black sole.
The fifth was wearing a black puffer style jacket and black trousers.
The sixth was wearing a black jacket and black trousers.
Detective Constable Rebecca Curtis said: “We believe the males pictured can assist with our investigation and we are keen to speak to them.
“I would urge the males, or anyone who knows them, to get in touch with us.
“Anyone who can assist is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 3971 of Saturday, 29 August, 2026, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
Two men who were involved in significant disorder during Halloween and Bonfire Night 2024 have been sentenced.
On the 31 October, Jamie Hogg was part of a group of individuals who caused significant damage to the outside of Moredun House, Marytee House, Little France House and Castleview House, Craigour Green, Edinburgh by smashing 45 windows, causing approximately £50,000 worth of damage.
This group were also involved in setting off fireworks towards members of the public.
On the 5 November, Jamie Hogg and Kevin Lankiewicz smashed windows of a convenience store on Moredun Park Road, Edinburgh and set off fireworks towards members of the public and vehicles causing significant disruption to the community.
As a result of inquiries conducted by Edinburgh officers as part of Operation Crackle, the pair were subsequently arrested and charged in November 2024 and thereafter sentenced on 15 September 2026.
Jamie Hogg, who is now 19, was given an 18-month custodial sentence, while 22-year-old Kevin Lankiewicz was given a Restriction of Liberty Order that prohibits him leaving his home address between 7pm and 5am each day.
Supt Neil Wilson from Edinburgh Division said: “In 2024 we saw various incidents of unacceptable disorder and violence across the city during the Halloween and Bonfire Night period and both Hogg and Lankiewicz played a significant role in the offences experienced within the Moredun area.
“Extensive evidence was gathered prior to their arrests, and this subsequently resulted in their conviction and sentencing, which is a timely reminder ahead of Bonfire Night 2026 that we will utilise all resources at our disposal to bring those responsible for such offences to justice.”
Eight people were arrested following disorder in Edinburgh city centre over the weekend.
Officers policing the FLY Festival music event at Princes Street Gardens on Saturday, 12 and Sunday, 13 September, 2026, were faced with a large number of youths attempting to breach the perimeter fencing, involved in anti-social behaviour, vandalism and assaults.
On Saturday, four males, aged 15, 17, 18 and 27, were arrested and charged in connection with offences including assault, breach of the peace and misuse of drugs.
On Sunday, males, aged 12, 18, 18 and 20, were also arrested in connection with similar offences.
Reports will be submitted to the relevant authorities and enquiries remain ongoing into the disorder.
Superintendent Neil Wilson said: “While the majority of people came along to the event in good spirits and without incident, there were others intent on gaining entry without tickets, involved in disorder and violence, and trespassing on the railway line. Bus transport was also disrupted as officers dealt with various incidents.
“This type of behaviour is unacceptable, dangerous and will not be tolerated. Everyone should be able to attend the city centre without fear of intimidation or harm at the hands of those who cannot conduct themselves in an appropriate manner.
“While there have been eight arrests, further enquiries are ongoing to trace others involved in the disorder. I’d appeal to anyone who has information or footage which could assist us to come forward.”
If you can help, please call 101 quoting reference 1161 of Saturday, 12 September, 2026. Alternatively, you can pass information to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A POLICE officer has spoken about the lasting impact of a horror attack which left him fighting for his life in hospital.
Constable Mark Smith, 35, was on duty on Friday, 30 August, 2024 when he approached Douglas Mills Jnr and Douglas Mills Snr in a stationary vehicle on Low Waters Road, Hamilton.
When he attempted to engage with them the vehicle drove off at speed, dragging PC Smith along the road, before leaving him lying seriously injured on the ground.
He was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital where he received treatment for extensive injuries including a fractured skull and a significant traumatic brain injury.
Two years on, he is still waiting on reconstructive surgery to his ankle.
Douglas Mills Jnr, 32, and Douglas Mills Snr, 58, were both jailed for 17 years when they returned for sentencing at the High Court in Glasgow today (Monday, 14 September).
As part of our ongoing work around the Knife Angel, South West officers have been carrying out targeted enforcement activity:
– We executed an MDA warrant which resulted in positive findings for cocaine and cannabis. The occupiers were linked to crimes of violence, including stabbings;
– One individual was arrested on a warrant in relation to a violent crime;
– We traced a missing person, who, when located and searched, was found in possession of a large kitchen knife and heroin. He was arrested and conveyed to custody;
– Proactive patrols led to the arrest of an individual following a theft by shoplifting in the city centre, with further action taken in relation to knife carrying;
– Our Oxgangs CPT officers and SW LIT team were involved in a foot chase with a nominal riding a Sur-Ron bike. They apprehended and identified the rider, with further enquiries ongoing following the arrest.
This incredible work demonstrates our continued commitment to identifying those involved in violence, drug supply and weapon carrying, and taking positive action to protect our communities.
