Revealed: How knife crime is surging in the Capital as youth services are cutback

Inquirer investigation uncovers full extent of city's growing problem with knives

“I stole the knife from a supermarket with my mates. If we are out and anyone squares up to us, you need to show you can defend yourself. A mate got slashed once. It was scary.”

Ben, 15, was caught carrying a knife in his schoolbag last year, landing him in trouble with school and the police. We are sitting in a café in Leith, where he has agreed to talk to the Inquirer about his experience as a warning to others.

The teenager shows me photos of him posing masked up with blades, some of which were posted on social media. Such social media posts are one of the hallmarks of the resurgence in knife crime in Edinburgh and other UK cities. Experts believe it is also one of its drivers.

“I never used the knife. It was for protection. I just hang about with the lads. There’s nothing to do where I stay,” says the 15-year-old, who lives in the north of the city. “Sometimes we posted pics and videos for a laugh, but it ended up blowing up.”

He has stopped carrying, he says. With the help of a mentor, he is trying to stay out of trouble.

But he is scared to turn his back on the gang he is part of. “They know my family”, he offers by way of explanation, fidgeting with his phone.

Carrying knives, he says, is becoming more common.

How big is the problem in Edinburgh?

In Edinburgh, knife crime is not on the same scale as London, where street stabbings are disturbingly frequent. But a series of well-publicised attacks has brought the problem of knife crime into sharp focus.

Three people were stabbed in one recent incident on Bath Street near Portobello promenade. Three months earlier an 18-year-old was stabbed in the same street. Two teenagers have been charged with attempted murder following the earlier assault and a 21-year-old faces the same charge in relation to the latter.

Last December, a 17-year-old was detained for a minimum of 18 years after admitting murdering Danielle Davidson, 33, with a large ‘Rambo’ knife in Constitution Street, Leith.

There have been reports of youths armed with axes and knives in Leith and masked teenagers on e-bikes threating to slash locals in various parts of the city. Police arrested children as young as 13 after Bonfire Night violence in Niddrie last year.

What the data tells us

Perhaps the most reliable way to track knife crime is the number of offences recorded by police that involved “a blade or sharp instrument”.

These official figures show knife crimes in Edinburgh has increased every year for the past three years with areas in the Northeast among some of the worst.