First-time offender conviction rate falls

Political Editor

Thursday 21 March 2013

THE number of first-time offenders convicted by the courts has fallen by more than one-quarter over the past five years, new figures have shown.

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Magnus Gardham

Statistics released by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill revealed a decrease from nearly 19,000 in 2007 to fewer than 14,000 last year.

SNP MSP Sandra White said: "This is testament to the hard work of police across Scotland, and stresses the importance of the SNP Government's commitment to recruiting more than 1200 additional police officers since it took office, while officer numbers south of the Border are being cut by 16,000."

For statistical purposes "first-time offenders" are those with no criminal convictions in Scottish courts in the past 10 years. The most recent crime figures for Scotland, covering the financial year 2011/12, showed a rise in law-breaking.The total number of crimes and offences rose for the first time in five years from 853,496 to 858,219.Law-breaking classed as crimes in official statistics – which tend to be more serious than "offences" – fell from 323,247 to 314,186, the lowest level for 37 years.

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First-time offender conviction rate falls

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