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.”
Victims and witnesses get an improved local service, including more dependable appointments and quicker investigations under a new community policing model being implemented across Scotland.
Forth Valley, Fife, and Tayside areas are already operating the model which has also recently been expanded to Highland and Islands, Argyll and West Dunbartonshire, Edinburgh and Renfrewshire and Inverclyde.
The approach draws clearer lines around the role of response officers, introduces a community investigations team, and will introduce additional community police officers across the country.
Areas already operating under the model report significant improvements in keeping local policing appointments, which were often cancelled when officers had to respond to emergencies.
There have been improvements on how quickly reports from the public about non-emergency incidents are assigned and progressed, while reducing pressure on response officers.
Although the new model makes better use of resources, community officers continue to be re-directed to support emergency response and to police events.
Chief Constable Jo Farrell said: “I want the public to have the best possible local policing, whether that’s the response to an emergency, reliable and timely support around non-emergencies, or identifiable and accessible officers who work with citizens and our partners to build cohesive and resilient communities which feel safe and experience less crime.
“The results so far are encouraging. Response officers are under less pressure and we’re progressing non-emergencies more reliably and in a way that enables local officers to listen to victims and witnesses.
“But community officers are still too often required to support emergency response and police events, drawing them away from the policing which strengthens community relations to solve shared problems, prevent crime and build cohesion and resilience.
“So, while this model makes the best use of the resources we have, I am asking government to support us to put an additional 350 officers into those crucial community teams over the coming years.”
The Policing For Our Communities local policing model was developed based on over 1,000 interactions with officers, staff, members of the public, and key local partners, to understand where we needed to change local policing.
The model uses richer demand data, including travel time around rural incidents, and how many people and how long different incidents need. This approach provides a clear and evidenced understanding of what resource we need, and where and when we need it. The new community policing model is expected to be in place nationally by March 2027.
A complementary approach to local public protection and crime will begin a proof of concept by the end of 2026 in North East Division and Highland and Islands Division.
The investigations and safeguarding project will deliver a new model to modernise how we deliver investigations and safeguarding services across local policing as part of our overarching response to the violence against women and girls emergency.
It will create a more nationally consistent, sustainable and victim-centred approach to investigations and safeguarding through improved victim care, better resource utilisation and more effective investigative capabilities.
As part of the new approach to local policing, Police Scotland is also developing how we deliver frontline support services, such as licensing to reduce duplication and increase efficiency.
Further details about the public protection and crime model and the approach to delivering frontline support services will be shared as progress is made.
A 36-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with a number of high-value housebreakings across Scotland.
The incidents happened at various addresses in the Edinburgh, Glasgow, Midlothian, West Lothian and East Renfrewshire.
The man was arrested in the Newcastle area and is due to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday, 5 October, 2026.
A team of detectives are continuing to work with partners, including police services across the UK, investigating acquisitive crime as part of Operation Virion.
Detective Superintendent David MacGregor said: “Whenever a home is broken into, the impact on the householder, their families and the local community is significant. We are very aware that many of the items stolen have a significant sentimental value as well as financial value.
“Our enquiries remain ongoing into this series of housebreakings. We are determined to disrupt the activity of those involved and will do everything in our power to bring them to justice.”
Anyone with any information can contact Police Scotland via 101 or alternatively, make an anonymous report to the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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:
Month-long programme to tackle knife crime makes it’s mark
Throughout September, communities across Edinburgh have taken part in activities designed to help people understand the risks associated with carrying knives and explore how to prevent violence.
The 27-foot Knife Angel sculpture, created by artist Alfie Bradley and the British Ironworks Centre from 100,000 confiscated knives and blades, has provided a powerful focal point for conversations about the devastating impact of violence and knife crime.
As part of the programme, 500 pupils were funded to attend Code at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The gritty theatre production explores county lines gangs and violence through rap, parkour and BMX stunts.
The performance prompted important discussions among pupils, teachers and peers about the realities and consequences of violence.
Pupils from 13 high schools also attended Balisong, an educational play about knife crime produced by Strange Town. With support from Forth Ports, the production has toured high schools across Edinburgh, reaching thousands of pupils.
Young people have also played a key role in a creative project which saw 92 pieces of pupils’ artwork selected to form a mosaic on a Lothian bus. The artwork focuses on keeping safe and being kind, providing a positive message that was seen by people across the city.
Police Scotland school engagement officers have worked with schools and young people throughout September as part of ongoing efforts to prevent violence before it starts.
The Local Policing crime prevention team took part in community workshops, while officers have been providing local retailers with advice and guidance around the responsible sale of knives.
The Council held a closing ceremony on Friday to mark the end of the Knife Angel’s time in Edinburgh. The event brought the community together to reflect on the month’s activities and consider how partners can build on this work to continue reducing violence and knife crime across the city.
Council Leader Jane Meagher said: “The Knife Angel has provided a powerful opportunity to bring people together and have important conversations about knife crime, violence and how we can make our communities safer.
“I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the Knife Angel programme, particularly our schools, young people, community organisations, Police Scotland and our other partners. The creativity and commitment shown throughout the month has helped keep these important conversations going.
“Although the Knife Angel is now leaving Edinburgh, the work does not stop here. The partnerships, conversations and lessons from the past month give us a strong foundation to continue working together to prevent violence and keep our communities safe.”
Chief Inspector Kieran Dougal said: “Edinburgh Division has been proud to have supported the Knife Angel residency alongside Places For People, City of Edinburgh Council and over 100 partners to raise awareness of the devastating consequences of violence crime and the support available to those affected by crimes of this nature.
“There is no place for violence in our society and our officers work daily with our communities and partners to respond to incidents of violence when they arise and support a range of diversionary activities aimed at deterring at risk groups from getting involved in violence.
“During the month of the Knife Angel residency we have helped keep people safe by patrolling the transport network, providing local retailers with advice on the responsible sale of knives, delivering inputs to schools on the dangers of weapon carrying, and, crucially, listening to those impacted by violence across our communities, including children and young people, about their experience of violence. This is all in addition to enforcement activity targeting perpetrators of violence.
“The Knife Angel has provided a platform for discussion reaching millions, united partners to roll out education programs, community engagement events, practitioner events and the sharing of accounts from those impacted by violence. However, the work does not end when the Angel goes, we remain committed to tackling violence in communities.
“If you are a young person who knows information about violent crime, including weapon possession, you can report it 100 percent anonymously via Fearless, the youth service of independent charity Crimestoppers, at fearless.org.
“If you are an adult, you can report anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or directly to Police Scotland by calling 101 or 999 in an emergency. Together we can keep Edinburgh a safe place to work, live and visit.”
The Council will continue to work with partners, schools, and communities to support violence prevention and build on the work inspired by the Knife Angel’s visit.
And for Lisa Petrie, the remarkable wee mum who lost her son John McNab in a stabbing last September, the campaign goes on. The Angel may have moved on, but Lisa’s determination to ensure her terrible loss is Not In Vain remains as strong as ever.
More information about the Knife Angel’s time in Edinburgh and the Book of Remembrance is available on the Council’s website.
A man has been charged in connection with disturbing a pod of dolphins off the coast of Portknockie.
The incident happened on Saturday, 27 June, 2026. Police received a report of a boat disturbing dolphins in the water.
The man was later traced and charged in connection. He will be reported to the Procurator Fiscal.
Constable Bryony Munro said: “We would like to remind members of the public to take care not to disturb any marine wildlife when they are encountered, and to follow the Scottish Marine Watching Code, whether they’re watching wildlife from the shore or sea.
“We understand many people enjoy the spectacle of seeing pods of dolphins and whales, but we must ensure we are not endangering them. It is vital they remain safe and protected in our seas. Anyone not adhering to the law will be investigated.
“Should you observe any human behaviour you consider to be a disturbance or harassment of dolphins, whales or other marine life, please note as much detail as you can and report the information to us.”
