Rapes or attempted rapes are reported to police every three hours in Scotland, shocking new figures reveal.
The number has risen by 11 per cent in the past year to more than 3,000 – and is up by a quarter in the past four years.
Nearly 500,000 crimes have been reported overall, including a daily average of 200 violent offences, according to the Scottish Government.
The figures also show a 129 per cent rise in shoplifting in the past four years, prompting the Tories to warn shopworkers are ‘under siege’.
Last night Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘These deeply alarming figures are the direct result of the SNP’s cuts to policing and their relentless weakening of the justice system.’
Statistics released by the government show 3,043 reports of rapes and attempted rapes in the year to September, up from 2,746 the previous year.
Since the same period in 2021, the number of rape or attempted rape reports has increased by 25 per cent (from 2,436).
In the past year, the total number of reports of sexual crimes rose 7 per cent (from 14,651 to 15,704), including a 24 per cent rise in offences including indecent photos of children (from 756 to 936).
Hellbound and Down 