The extent of violence involving knives is revealed for the first time in figures obtained by The Sunday Times under the Freedom of Information Act.
They show that last year more than 2,100 people were treated in Scottish hospitals for stab wounds. A further 1,500 were treated for injuries that hospital staff believed were caused by blades.
The statistics are proof that a series of high-profile police and government initiatives have failed to curb Scotland’s burgeoning knife culture.
A survey by Glasgow city council and Strathclyde police found one in five young people in the city carried a weapon for protection, citing fear of gangs, drug users and of walking through rough areas.
Last month Luke Mitchell, 16, was found guilty of killing his girlfriend Jodi Jones in a frenzied knife attack in Dalkeith, Midlothian.
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The case of Kirsty Nisbet, 15, from Edinburgh, who needed 89 stitches in her face after being slashed with a razor blade by a former school friend, also caused widespread outrage.
Jack McConnell, the first minister, recently introduced new measures to tackle knife crime including giving police the power to arrest people on suspicion of carrying a knife. Jail sentences for possessing knives have been doubled to four years and the minimum age for buying knives has been raised from 16 to 18.
However, until now, the only figures published by the Scottish executive showed that more than half of all murders committed in Scotland — 55 — involved blades.
Statistics gathered by accident and emergency departments and obtained by The Sunday Times show that the number of stabbing victims they treated rose by 40% between 2001 and 2003.
All but five of the country’s 14 health board areas reported an increase in stabbings over the same period. In Glasgow, which accounts for more than half of the stabbings in Scotland, the number of victims treated in casualty departments rose by nearly 70%.
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Figures for 2004 have not been properly collated but casualty consultants expect the figures to be even higher.
“These figures are frightening. We need more education to bring about a change in the mindset of people who carry knives out of bravado, malice or fear and to make them understand that they will face stiff penalties for carrying a knife for whatever reason,” said Kenny MacAskill, justice spokesman for the SNP.
Michael Sheridan, an A&E specialist registrar at the Southern General hospital in Glasgow, has completed a study of stabbing victims admitted to emergency departments in the west of Scotland. His research, which has been presented to police forces and the Scottish office, shows that three A&E departments in Glasgow — the Royal Infirmary, Victoria Infirmary and the Southern General — are treating more than 1,500 stab victims each year. Only about half are being reported to the police.
Sheridan’s study suggests that knife crime is the main reason for young people being admitted to A&E departments in the west of Scotland.
“In three Glasgow A&E departments, stabbings accounted for 25-30% of those who had been assaulted,” said Sheridan. “In a one-year period you are looking at 1,500 cases. And that isn’t including other hospitals in the west of Scotland, such as the Western Infirmary, Wishaw and Monklands, where it is also a significant problem.
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“Alcohol is a significant component and there is a big under-reporting to police. Perhaps they don’t want the police involved or they believe it is an incident that they feel should be dealt with in their own communities.
“Hospitals in the area, police forces and the Scottish executive have been made aware of some of the findings.”
Detective Chief Superintendent John Carnochan, of Strathclyde police, has been working with Sheridan and other A&E doctors to build a more accurate picture of the extent of knife crime in the west of Scotland.
Carnochan, who is heading a violence-reduction initiative in Glasgow, admitted previous attempts to tackle the problem had not led to a lasting reduction in the use of weapons.
“We know that there is significant underreporting of knife crimes. If our long-term aim is to eradicate this knife culture through education then we need to know about the scale of the problem and the reasons behind it,” he said.