ONE of Glasgow's top cops said Scotland needs new laws to tackle knife crime.
Detective Chief Superintendent John Carnochan spoke out at an event at Strathclyde Police HQ in Glasgow, where plans for longer jail terms for people who carry knives were announced.
Mr Carnochan, co- director of the force's Violence Reduction Unit, said: "This is a societal issue in Scotland, in the whole of Scotland, not just Glasgow.
"This is a Scotland-wide thing and that's why you need a change in legislation."
As reported in later edition's of yesterday's Evening Times, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has announced that the maximum penalty for carrying a knife will increase from four to five years' imprisonment.
It comes only months after the maximum penalty for carrying a knife in urban centres was increased from one-year to four years.
Mr MacAskill said: "We believe that tough laws backed by visible enforcement, allied to education and diversion, are working."
matty.sutton@ eveningtimes.co.uk
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