EXCLUSIVE by DOUG COLLIE
Criminals and law-breaking motorists in the Scottish Borders appear to have had their activities radically restricted thanks to a rare if welcome side-effect of Covid 19, according to statistics published today by the Scottish Government.
Under some categories the level of offending recorded by police in April 2020 fell dramatically by up to 58 per cent when compared to the corresponding figures for April 2019.
But, perhaps significantly and definitely depressingly, the number of offences involving drugs actually increased by 17% from 41 to 48 suggesting the unscrupulous dealers who prey on addicts have not been obeying instructions to 'stay at home' to protect the NHS!
The tables of figures produced for the Scottish Borders Council area shows total crimes recorded fell between the two Aprils in question from 328 to 258 (21%) while so-called other offences including common assault, breach of the peace and motoring offences plummeted by 40% from 360 in April 2019 to 217 this April.
A breakdown of the data in each crime category includes non-sexual cases of violence down from nine instances to seven, attempted murder/serious assault incidents reduced from five to two, and sexual assault from eight incidents to six.
Beneath the heading 'Crimes of dishonesty' the total showed a dramatic fall of 45% (161 to 88) with house-breaking incidents down 58% (26 to 11), theft from motor vehicles reduced from nine incidents to one and theft of motor vehicles cut by 42% from 12 to seven.
The closure of the vast majority of retail outlets obviously limited the opportunities for stealing from shops. The 14 shoplifting incidents recorded this April was 69% fewer than the 39 cases reported a year ago. "Other thefts" at 34 were 37% down on April 2019 when 54 such crimes were logged. On the other hand there was a slight hike from 11 to 13 in reported frauds.
The Borders crime file for April also shows 73 separate reports of fire raising and vandalism last April, down by 15% to 62 in 2020.
As reported above, a separate chart covering other offences displays a total of 360 recorded 'crimes' during last April and 217 in April 2020, a difference of 40%.
Common assaults were down from 60 to 54, breach of the peace from 71 to 59, and urinating from 20 to nil. It would seem Borderers with weak bladders have adhered strictly to the lock down regulations!
The enforced reduction of car usage took its toll on motoring offences, slashed by an impressive 58% from 183 to 76 over the course of the two Aprils.
Alleged offences of dangerous driving were down from 21 to 11, driving under the influence down from 14 to four, speeding instances cut by 86% from 37 reports to just five and unlawful use of vehicles down by 53% from 75 to 35 recorded incidents.
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