As part of an operation to combat illegal substances in the north east area of Edinburgh a man has been arrested and charged in connection with drugs offences.
Officers from Operation Elate arrested the 26-year-old man around 5.40pm yesterday (Wednesday, 6 March, 2024) in Elgin Street, Leith. Subsequently, class A drugs with a street value of £5,160 and over £700 in cash were recovered.
The man is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday 4th April.
Chief Inspector Kieran Dougal said: “Drugs cause miseries in our communities and officers continue to work to remove illegal substances from our streets.
“Information from the public has an important role and we ask anyone with concerns about drugs to contact Police Scotland via 101 or make a call anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
POLICE are continuing enquiries to locate Khasha Smith, 35, who is missing from the Calder area of Edinburgh.
Extensive enquiries are ongoing and police we have established that the last known confirmed sighting of Khasha was Tuesday, 10 October, 2023.
Her family is extremely concerned for her and are today appealing to the public for any information which could help trace Khasha.
Khasha’s mum Nicola Neil said: “Khasha, we love you so much and just need to know you are safe. We need you home with us.If anyone, anywhere, knows where Khasha is – please tell us. Please don’t let us go on like this.
“Khasha is a brilliant mum to her three children and is loved by all our very close family. We are all sick with worry. Khasha is my friend as well as my daughter and we are living a nightmare.
“It’s hard to find the words to explain the “not knowing” where she is and if anything has happened to her. These past few weeks have been horrendous and painful for us all. I would ask anyone out there – even if we don’t know you – please come forward if you know anything at all.
“Please help us bring Khasha home. This waiting is unbearable. I’m begging you from the bottom of my heart – please get in touch. I miss her so much and we need to find her.”
Khasha’s daughter Calley Smith said: “I recently had my 18th birthday and didn’t hear anything from my mum. She would never miss my birthday, my sisters’ birthdays, or Christmas.
“It’s just not her. We miss her so much. We want nothing more than my mum to walk through the door and to be able to give her a massive hug. It feels like I’m living the worst dream I could ever imagine.
“I can’t express what it would mean to have my mum home. Even the smallest piece of information might be all we need to find her.
“So I’m asking anyone with any information – please come forward and help the police bring my mum home for me, my sisters and the rest of the family.”
Khasha is around 5ft tall, with a slim build. She has blue eyes and long, blonde hair. She also has tattoos, one which is visible on her right wrist and says ‘Forever’.
She is known to visit the Gorgie, Broomhouse and Wester Hailes areas.
Khasha always maintains contact with her family. However, none of her relatives or her friends have seen, or heard from her, and this is very distressing for them.
Specialist officers are supporting and keeping in close contact with Khasha’s family.
A number of national resources have been used in the search for Khasha including the dog branch, underwater unit and specialist search officers.
Enquiries are ongoing and officers are again appealing for anyone with any information to come forward.
Detective Chief Inspector Bob Williamson said: “Khasha’s family are understandably extremely worried about her.
“We have a dedicated team of officers who are working around the clock to find her and get answers for her family.
“While we are keeping an open mind, and continue to hope Khasha will be found safe and well, we have to consider the possibility that she may have to come to harm. We must consider all possibilities.
“Our enquiries are ongoing and a key focus of our investigation is continuing to build up a picture of Khasha’s life in the months prior to her disappearance.
“We are keen to speak to any of Khasha’s friends who may have information about her whereabouts before the last known confirmed sighting of her on Tuesday, 10 October, 2023.
Police have also set up an online portal to encourage members of the public to submit information, including any recorded footage.
The Major Incident Public Portal (MIPP) is a website that gives the public access to a form so they can send information directly to the major investigation team.
“It is absolutely vital that we find Khasha and I would again ask anyone with information – no matter how small or insignificant it may seem – to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 3915 of 5 January, 2024.”
Child sexual abuse image offences recorded by Police Scotland increased by 15 per cent between April 2022 and March 2023
NSPCC wants robust implementation of the Online Safety Act with Ofcom encouraged to strengthen its approach to tackling child sexual abuse
Meta urged to pause rollout of end-to-end encryption until plans for Facebook and Instagram can be risk assessed under new online safety regulations
The number of child sexual abuse image offences recorded by Police Scotland were at a record high last year – up by 15 per cent from the previous year, data analysed by the NSPCC has revealed.
A total of 765 offences where child abuse images were collected and distributed, were logged in 2022/23 according to Police Scotland data 1.
Since 2017/18, when the NSPCC first called for social media regulation, a total of 3,877 crimes have been recorded while children and families have waited for online safety laws.
The charity said the figures show the need for swift and ambitious action by tech companies to address what is currently happening on their platforms and for Ofcom to significantly strengthen its approach to tackling child sexual abuse through effective enforcement of the Online Safety Act.
The figures come as insight from Childline shows young people being targeted by adults to share child sexual abuse images via social media and the calculated use of end-to-end encrypted private messaging apps by adults to find and share child abuse images.
A 14-year-old girl told the NSPCC-run service: “One night I got chatting with this guy online who I’d never met and he made me feel so good about myself. He told me he was 15, even though deep down I didn’t believe him.
“I sent him a couple of semi-nudes on Snap(chat), but then instantly regretted it. I asked him to delete the pics, but he just kept on making me do stuff for him not to post them – like getting me to strip live on camera. I just want to block him, but if I block him he will just post the pictures.”
A 15-year-old boy told Childline:“A while ago I saw a video on YouTube about how a guy was busting paedophiles and creeps on the internet by pretending to be a kid, and I kind of wanted to do a similar thing.
“I looked around Instagram for the creepiest accounts about kids my age and younger. In the end, I came across this link on one of their stories. It’s a link to a WhatsApp group chat in which [child sexual abuse material] is sent daily! There are literally hundreds of members in this group chat and they’re always calling the kids ‘hot’ and just being disgusting.”
Police Scotland recorded crime data on the Scottish Government website.
Police Force
2017/18
2018/19
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
2022/23
Total
Scotland
658
554
584
660
662
765
3877
Online Safety Act implementation
The NSPCC said that disrupting online child sexual abuse taking place at increasing levels will require regulated tech platforms to introduce systemic changes to their products to stop them being used to organise, commit, and share child abuse.
A consultation into Ofcom’s first codes for companies to adopt to disrupt child sexual abuse on their platforms closed last week.
The NSPCC want these measures introduced without delay but urged Ofcom to begin work on a second version of the codes that will require companies to go much further.
The charity said companies should be required to use technology that can help identify and tackle grooming, sextortion and new child abuse images.
They also want tougher measures for private messaging services to make child protection a priority, including in end-to-end encrypted environments.
The NSPCC warned that Meta’s roll-out of end-to-end encryption on Facebook and Instagram will prevent authorities from identifying offenders and safeguarding victims.
The charity wants plans paused until Meta can prove child safety will not be compromised and have urged parties to find a balance between the safety and privacy of all users, including children. The NSPCC said further rollout should be delayed until Ofcom can study Meta’s risk assessment as part of the new regulatory regime.
Sir Peter Wanless, NSPCC Chief Executive, said:“It’s alarming to see online child abuse continue to rise, especially when tech companies should be acting to make their sites safe by design ahead of incoming regulation.
“Behind these crimes are children who have been targeted by adults who are able to organise and share sexual abuse with other offenders seamlessly across social media and messaging apps.
“The Online Safety Act sets out robust measures to make children fundamentally safer on the sites and apps they use so they can enjoy the benefits of a healthy online experience.
“Ofcom has been quick off the blocks but must act with greater ambition to ensure companies prioritise child safety in the comprehensive way that is so desperately needed.”
Susie Hargreaves OBE, Chief Executive of the Internet Watch Foundation, the UK’s front line against child sexual abuse imagery online, said: “This is a truly disturbing picture, and a reflection of the growing scale of the availability, and demand, for images and videos of children suffering sexual abuse.
“The people viewing and sharing and distributing this material need to know it is not a victimless crime. They are real children, suffering real abuse and sexual torture, the effects of which can linger a lifetime.
“That more and more people are trying to share and spread this material shows we should all be doing everything we can to stop this, building more, and innovative solutions to keep children safe.
“The IWF is ready to support technology companies and Ofcom in implementing the Online Safety Act to help make the UK the safest place in the world to be online.”
In-depth look at how best to deal with offending behaviour
Identifying the most effective ways to address offending behaviour so there is less crime and fewer victims will be at the heart of an independent review of sentencing and penal policy, the Justice Secretary has announced.
The externally led review will examine how and when custodial sentences and community interventions are used, how effective these are and what more can be done to prevent crime and reduce reoffending.
While sentencing in individual cases is always for Scotland’s independent courts, the review will consider the range of community interventions available to judges and sheriffs and whether these should be expanded.
To encourage greater use of ‘robust community-based interventions’ there will be also be increased investment of £14 million in community justice in 2024-25, bringing the total investment in community justice to £148 million this year.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: “Protecting victims and the public from harm is my absolute priority and prison will always be necessary as part of that. However, we must recognise that, while appropriate in many cases, short prison sentences are often not the best way to reduce reoffending, with those released from short custodial sentences reconvicted nearly twice as often as those sentenced to a community payback order.
“Therefore an externally led review of sentencing and penal policy will allow us to re-visit the fundamental question of how imprisonment and community-based sentences are used. We must do more to develop community interventions with increased breadth and depth, so that the courts have a greater selection of options to deal robustly and constructively with the individuals before them.
“The prison population in Scotland remains too high and the needs of those in prison are increasingly complex. While a range of work is underway to respond to this, we also need to understand and address its root causes.
“The aim of this review is not about reducing the prison population as an end in itself, but ensuring that custody is used for the right people at the right time.”
BRC survey shows a 50% increase in levels of retail violence and abuse, to 1,300 incidents a day
Cost of theft doubled to £1.8 billion in 2022/23 with over 45,000 incidents a day
60% of respondents say police response is “poor” or “very poor”
Violence and abuse against retail workers soared last year, with the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) crime survey revealing that the number of incidents rose to 1,300 per day in 2022/23 from almost 870 per day the year before.
This rise comes despite retailers investing heavily in crime prevention, spending £1.2bn on measures such as CCTV, increased security personnel, and body worn cameras, up from £722m the previous year. The cost of theft to retailers went up to £1.8bn from £953m the previous year, meaning the total cost of crime to retailers stood at £3.3bn – double the previous year.
The BRC’s annual crime survey highlights the scale of violence and abuse faced by people working in retail. Incidents, which include racial abuse, sexual harassment, physical assault, and threats with weapons, are now on a par with the levels seen during the pandemic, when staff bore the brunt of some people’s frustration with Covid safety measures.
While the total number of incidents climbed, dissatisfaction with the police increased, with 60% of respondents describing the police response to incidents as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.
Retailers are calling on the Government to introduce a standalone offence of assaulting, threatening, or abusing a retail worker. This would send a clear message that this behaviour will not be tolerated, making retail workers feel safer in the workplace.
It would also mean the police have data that allows them to understand the scale of the issue, and to allocate sufficient resources to deal with it.
This would ensure that retail workers have the same protection under the law as they do in Scotland, where a similar offence was introduced in 2021.
Helen Dickinson OBE, Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “Despite retailers investing huge sums in crime prevention, violence and abuse against retail workers is climbing.
“With over 1,300 incidents every day, government can no longer ignore the plight of ordinary, hardworking retail colleagues. Teenagers taking on their first job, carers looking for part-time work, parents working around childcare.
“And while the violence can be over in a moment, the victims carry these experiences with them for a lifetime. And we all know the impact does not stop there – it affects their colleagues, friends, and the family our colleagues go home to. This is a crisis that demands action now.
“Criminals are being given a free pass to steal goods and to abuse and assault retail colleagues. No one should have to go to work fearing for their safety.
“The Protection of Workers Act in Scotland already provides additional protection to retail workers, so why should our hardworking colleagues south of the border be offered less protection?
“It is vital that government takes action – introducing a new standalone offence for assaulting or abusing a retail worker.”
Katy Bourne OBE, Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner and APCC Lead for Business Crime, said:“The levels of retail crime described in this report reveal an unprecedented level of selfish lawlessness.
“Every day, retail staff are facing the consequences of shoplifters’ brazen behaviour and that’s why I have supported the call for a specific offence of assault on a shopworker.
“Our courts need to work more efficiently, and shoplifters need to be deterred from re-offending. That’s why I’m calling for my fellow Police & Crime Commissioners to focus their police forces on tackling shoplifting by making it a priority in their local Police & Crime Plans.”
Detectives are appealing for witnesses following an armed robbery which took place in Edinburgh on the evening of Monday, 5 February, 2024.
Around 10.55pm a male delivery driver on a moped was dropping off an order at a property in Murrayburn Gardens.
When he approached the delivery address he noticed a male youth had got onto his moped.
He asked the youth to get off and another male youth appeared and threatened him with what appeared to be a firearm.
The youths took the victim’s phone and moped keys and made off on the vehicle heading along Murrayburn Gardens towards Westside Plaza.
Police were contacted and the moped was recovered two hours later in Morvenside in the Wester Hailes area.
The first suspect is described as a white male, aged 15 to 16 years old, of skinny build and wearing a black balaclava, a black jacket, black joggers, black shoes and black gloves. He had Scottish accent and was softly spoken.
The second suspect is described as a white male, aged 15 to 16 years old, 5ft9, of skinny build and wearing a black balaclava, a black jacket, black joggers, black shoes and black gloves. He also had a Scottish accent and was softly spoken.
Detective Inspector Kevin Tait said: “This was a terrifying experience for the victim and it is vital that we trace the two individuals responsible.
“We are appealing for anyone who was in Murrayburn Gardens or the surrounding area on Monday evening who may have noticed anything suspicious to please get in touch.
“We would also urge anyone with private CCTV or dash-cam footage of two males riding on a moped in the Wester Hailes area to pass this on to officers.
“Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 3790 of Monday, 5 February, 2024. Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
Zombie-style knives and machetes will be outlawed under legislation laid today. A surrender and compensation scheme will launch in the summer
Dangerous zombie-style knives and machetes will be banned under new legislation to take these weapons off our streets and keep young people safe.
Under the measures, first announced by the Prime Minister last year and laid before Parliament yestrday, it will be illegal to possess, sell, manufacture or transport these zombie-style knives and machetes.
The government is urging anyone with one of these dangerous weapons to voluntarily hand it into a knife surrender bin, before the official surrender and compensation scheme is launched in the summer.
This will get these knives off our streets as soon as possible, while giving people in possession an opportunity to hand them in without legal implications. The full ban will come into in force in September, after which anyone in possession of one of these knives may face time behind bars.
During this time, the government will work with police, communities and partners to ensure there is public awareness of the surrender scheme, which have been implemented in the past to accompany knife bans.
This is just one part of a package of measures being introduced by the government to strengthen existing knife crime laws, which are already among the toughest in the world. It is illegal to carry any knife in public without good purpose, carrying a sentence of 4 years in prison, and, in 2016, the government banned zombie knives, whilst cyclone knives were banned in 2019.
Since 2019, police have taken 120,000 knives off our streets through stop and search and other targeted police action. Knife crime has gone down 5% since 2019 and hospital admissions for under 25s involved in stabbings has fallen by 25%. Violent crime is also down 51% since 2010.
Building on this record, the Criminal Justice Bill will go further by increasing the maximum sentence for the possession of banned weapons from 6 months to 2 years, while anyone caught selling knives to under-18s, including online, will also face 2 years behind bars.
Police will also be given new powers to seize and destroy knives found on private premises if there are reasonable grounds to suspect the blade will be used in a serious crime. Previously, police could not seize knives found during a search on a property, even if they had suspicions of criminal use.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Knife crime continues to take precious lives away, and I am determined to put an end to this senseless violence.
“We must stop these dangerous knives ending up on our streets and in the hands of criminals. We cannot let them be sold to children, and we must give young people a way out of violence.
“That is why I have expedited the ban on zombie-style machetes and we are increasing the maximum sentence for selling knives to under 18s. We will continue to invest in youth services that have prevented thousands of violent injuries.”
Zombie-style knives are just as dangerous as traditional zombie knives, however, they do not have the same distinct images or threatening wording that incites violence.
The police have identified that zombie-style knives are increasingly used in criminality, emerging on the back of the 2016 ban when some retailers exploited this loophole to keep selling these dangerous weapons but evade the law. The measures being introduced today will put an end to this technicality.
In line with previous knife bans, a surrender and compensation scheme will be introduced from the 26 August, and further guidance on how this will operate will be published in June.
Steel Warriors Head of Operations Christian d’Ippolito said: “Steel Warriors welcome the steps being taken by the government to strengthen its tough knife crime laws to keep dangerous knives off our streets. Weapons like these should not be available to young people, they have no place in modern society and should not be glorified.
“At Steel Warriors we believe that lives should be built by steel, not destroyed by it. We melt down confiscated knives and recycle them into outdoor gyms, we then provide free community classes to transform the lives of young people affected by crime, violence and social exclusion, giving them the confidence they need to create positive futures.”
During a visit to Kent Police yesterday, the Home Secretary saw first-hand how Home Office-funded youth violence prevention projects are helping steer young people away from violent crime.
Recent independent evaluation has shown that the government’s Violence Reduction Units, in combination with hotspot policing patrols, have prevented an estimated 3,220 hospital admissions for violent injury since 2019 in areas where the programme operates.
The Home Secretary also met with Yemi Hughes, the mother of a knife crime victim, Idris Elba and members of his ‘Don’t Stop Your Future’ campaign to discuss action being taken on serious violence and what more can be done to tackle the issue.
The legislation laid in Parliament will amend the Criminal Justice Act 1988.
The UK’s biggest cat charity Cats Protection has again welcomed the Pet Abduction Bill after it cleared another hurdle through parliament yesterday.
The Bill – proposed by Anna Firth MP – will give cats and their owners greater protection in law and help prevent pet theft.
Annabel Berdy, Senior Advocacy & Government Relations Officer for Cats Protection said: “This proposed law is a desperately needed safety net for the nation’s pets, helping to stamp out the criminals who prey on much-loved animals.
“Pet abduction is a particularly nasty crime, often leaving owners in permanent limbo about the fate of their pets and putting the animals themselves at high risk of mistreatment.
“Currently, the theft of an animal is regarded in law as being level with the theft of a mobile phone – and that is clearly not the case. Pets are not merely property – they are sentient beings, capable of suffering pain and fear, and are utterly irreplaceable to their owners.
“A new and specific offence will also enable police to build an accurate picture of pet theft across England and Northern Ireland by requiring a specific log, as opposed to the current situation where pet theft is recorded as property theft.”
The charity added that the new law would help tackle the backstreet market in purebred cats and kittens, driven by a growing demand for pedigrees.
Annabel said: “More than 40 per cent of all cats obtained in the last 12 months were pedigree, and criminals will no doubt capitalise on this demand. They may target pedigree cats for onward sale, or – if they’re unneutered – keep them as breeding animals to produce litter after litter of kittens to sell.
“We’re hugely encouraged to see the Pet Abduction Bill making such swift progress through parliament and will be working tirelessly with other animal charities and politicians to push it forwards. We cannot let this important opportunity to protect pets and owners slip through our hands.”
Cats Protection is the UK’s leading cat welfare charity and has helped an average of 157,000 cats and kittens a year over the last five years through its national network which includes around 210 volunteer-run branches and 34 centres.
A fourth person has been arrested and charged in connection with the death of a 38-year-old man in Granton.
Emergency services were called around 11.50pm on Sunday, 31 December, 2023, after a firearm was discharged in West Granton Road.
Two men, aged 38 and 39, were taken to hospital. The 38-year-old man, Marc Webley, was pronounced dead a short time later.
A 20-year-old man has now been arrested and charged in connection with the incident. He is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court tomorrow -Friday, 2 February, 2024.
A 32-year-old man and 25-year-old woman have previously been arrested and charged in connection with the incident. Both appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday, 8 January, 2024.
A 33-year-old woman was also arrested and charged in connection with the incident. She was released pending further enquiries.
