SERIOUS violence rose 10 per cent in Scotland the last financial year, according to official statistics.

Analysts have long warned that official recording of the most grave violent crimes have are plateauing after nearly two decades of decline.

The most serious non-sexual violent crimes remain at some of their lowest levels since the 1970s. But they corrected up in 2018-2019, the Scottish Government announced on Tuesday. There were more than 8000 so-called Group one crimes in the 12 months.

READ MORE: Recorded crime in Scotland up for first time in 12 years

Niven Rennie of Scotland’s globally praised Violence Reduction Unit said they only way to bring the toll of assaults, muggings and murders any further would be to deal with societal issues like drug and alcohol abuse.

There was a rise of 16% in robberies - theft with the violence or the threat of violence. Mr Rennie suggested this was often the result of sheer desperation by addicts and other people with nowhere else to go for money.

Sex crimes also rose, by eight per cent, part of a long-term trend of greater reporting, including of historic offences.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats took a different tack to Mr Rennie, criticising police resources rather than societal ills.

Its justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP said: “The steep rise in violent and sexual crime is extremely concerning. Thousands of families will have been left reeling from unthinkable attacks.

“Police officers and staff work tirelessly to keep our communities safe but it’s clear that a lack of resources, the loss of valuable civilian expertise and the reliance on outdated IT systems is hampering their work.

“Our system is under immense pressure. The Justice Secretary needs to urgently re-examine police resourcing.”

Police Scotland spent £8.6m on preparations for the potential fall-out of Brexit.

Officers have also been taken out of normal duties to deal with re-emerging sectarian trouble.