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OPINION: Police must make city a safer place
 
 

IT almost beggars belief that a woman was stabbed in Glasgow city centre for 50p.

But it's only almost' because acts of violence are common on the city's streets - they are not surprising. That's a disgrace - an outrage which shames Glasgow.

The place has changed beyond recognition from its No Mean City' days but a culture of violence, which should have been stamped out long ago, persists.

Chief Constable Steve House is doing a good job tackling gang violence but he must also develop policies which make the whole city safe from random violence.

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And when offenders are arrested, the courts must ensure they are given sentences which will deter others.

Dalglish still has an eye for goal

KENNY DALGLISH is absolutely on the ball when he says the Commonwealth Games can make the East End great again.

The Celtic, Liverpool and Scotland legend knows what he is talking about when he speaks about Glasgow's regeneration.

His endorsement of what lies ahead as a result of the city winning the Games will mean more to most people than any politician's comments.

Dalglish was born and raised in areas of the city which knew few privileges.

Hopefully, the new Games' facilities will inspire young people to become as good in their chosen sports as Dalglish was in his.

Publication date 07/05/08

Posted by: Meep, Shawlands on 10:29pm Wed 7 May 08
I am sorry but the leader for the 50p stabbing is vey naive. Every single year when Glasgow gets the first whiff of a heatwave the annual event of "Summer Madness" commences. Violence, drunkness and outright chaos kicks in. This has always been a part of Glasgow's culture and to pretend it doesnt is just blinkered. No amount of policing will make a dent on this annual unfortunately. When the combination of alcohol ,heatwaves, and bored malcontents unite Glasgow's "Summer Madness" is has regular has clockwork. Unless CC House is prepared to nanny every single, park , off licence, and congregation/groups of teens , bleating about this initial wave of violence is futile and pointless. From the weather forecast the violence is only going to multiply. I say this has a Glaswegian who has observed this for years.
Posted by: Doug Blaney, Glasgow on 7:14pm Fri 9 May 08
The blame lies with the Courts and Procurator Fiscals office in Glasgow. When a guy get two years for grafitti and another guy gets fined £100 for stabbing someone, whats the sense? The sensible approach would surely be that offenders who commit violence against people including rape should be imprisoned with a minimum term of six months . This would include those who carry knives or other weapons or such items that can be construed as an offensive weapon. Sentences would depend on how serious the injury or intent was. Carrying a weapon can be construed to mean that the offender intended to seriously injure or attempt to kill his victim.
All other crimes including robbery, burglary, non payment of fines, frauds etc need to be treated differently. Obviously, if violence against anyone happens, or the criminals carried weapons, they would be charged with any one of the ”violence against the person charges as above”.
The offenders in each of the above two examples must be kept apart, because the regime could be different. Mixing violent offenders and non violent offenders is a serious error and must be discontinued.
Remand before trial should only be used for violence charges.
Whilst robbery, burglary, non payment of fines, frauds etc can have serious effects on people or businesses, they cannot be compared to violence against people.
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