THE number of young people convicted of theft and other crimes of dishonesty has plummeted under the last decade, leading to a political row over what it means.
The SNP welcomed the figures, saying they showed a “generational shift away from crime”.
However the Tories said fewer convictions were nothing to boast about, and didn't mean a comparable fall in crime.
Data released under Freedom of Information showed a decline in convictions among those aged 12 to 20 across all crimes of dishonesty, including fraud, shoplifting and other theft.
The number of teenagers convicted for housebreaking fell from 520 to 163 between 2007-8 and 2016-17, while teenagers convicted for car theft fell from 501 to 76.
All convictions for dishonesty fell 39% from 17,728 to 10,795 over the period.
However, while convictions among those over 20 fell 30%, from 14,338 to 9,963, those in the 12-20 bracket fell by 75% from 3,390 to 832.
SNP MSP Rona Mackay said: “Crimes of dishonesty, such as housebreaking, can have a devastating impact on victims. These figures are the latest sign of a very welcome generational shift away from crime among young people.
“We’ve had huge success in reducing violence and gang activity among young people by treating violence as a public health concern – and that approach is now being adopted in London. If a young person falls into crime then that can set them on a path of criminal activity through the rest of their life – that’s why it’s essential that we break the link at a young age.”
But Tory MSP Liam Kerr said: “At a time when clear-up and detection rates are so poor, the last thing the SNP government should be doing is boasting about conviction figures.
“Instead of spinning statistics in order to try and create an unrealistic impression, the SNP should be analysing its own performance on crime.
“Repeated surveys involving the views of real people have shown a completely different story from the rose-tinted one set out by the Nationalists here.”
Record crime as a whole fell in Scotland over the period covered by the FoI release.
However in 2017-18 it rose for the first time in 12 years, with sexual crimes at their highest level for almost half a century, and clear up rates at an eight-year low.
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