By Adam Morris
Rising numbers of young teenagers are being caught with knives on Scotland’s streets by police using stop-and-search powers.
Incidents involving under 18s being found in possession of blades rose 59 per cent last year, with children as young as 11 being apprehended.
It comes as concerns intensify about knife crime among young people in the wake of three boys being convicted for the killing of 16-year-old Kayden Moy in Ayrshire last year.
Now analysis by 1919 has found there were 145 instances of youngsters being caught with knives in 2025/26, compared to 91 in the calendar year of 2024.
The practice has been defended by Police Scotland, frontline officers, and the Scottish Government’s new justice secretary Neil Gray.
“Every one of these incidents is a knife being removed from the streets and potentially a life saved,” said David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation.
“Officers need to be supported in this work, and as it stands there are too many obstacles when an officer reasonably suspects someone may be carrying a weapon.
“As we’ve seen from recent cases, knife crime is a real problem in Scotland. Frontline officers are the last line of defence on this and must be given more to continue the work.”
The data published by Police Scotland lists every stop-and-search case over the course of the year to the end of March 2026.
It shows how positive searches were recorded for 127 boys and 18 girls.
They were often carried out on suspicion of finding other illegal items, such as drugs or stolen goods, before blades and pointed articles were discovered during the search.
“The Scottish Government fully supports Police Scotland to take appropriate action to safeguard public safety”
Justice Secretary Neil Gray
Among the cases were two separate 11-year-old boys, one in Glasgow and one in Irvine, close to where Kayden Moy was murdered, only a few months after the tragic incident.
A further two boys of 12 – one in Glasgow and one on the Isle of Bute – were snared while carrying blades.
Assistant Chief Constable Wendy Middleton said Police Scotland abided strictly with the stop-and-search code of practice, which was introduced in 2017, especially when children were the subject of the search.
“Intelligence-led stop-and-search is a valuable and effective policing tactic that helps us keep people safe in many different ways,” she said.
“We recognise that stopping and searching people is a significant intrusion into their personal liberty and privacy, and we remain committed to ensuring that people are treated with fairness, integrity and respect.”
The murder of Kayden Moy, who was described by his family as “an amazing, caring boy”, sparked a national outcry, with demands for far tougher action on knife crime.
The pressure was then intensified at a UK level after the murder of student Henry Nowak, who was stabbed to death in Southampton. Vickrum Digwa was found guilty of the crime and jailed for life.
And in Edinburgh last month, a man was charged with five counts of attempted murder after Muslim men were stabbed during a rampage spanning much of the city.
“Intelligence-led stop-and-search is a valuable and effective policing tactic that helps us keep people safe in many different ways”
ACC Wendy Middleton
The Scottish Conservatives claimed that more lenient guidelines for younger offenders are leading to a lack of deterrence.
“Far too many young people now believe they can carry a knife without facing serious consequences,” said justice spokesperson Stephen Kerr.
“Reckless under-25 sentencing guidelines have weakened deterrence and sent entirely the wrong message to offenders.”
Despite criticism of stop-and-search policy in some quarters, the Scottish Government said it backed the police’s approach.
Gray said ministers had invested more than £8 million in prevention and early intervention since 2023.
“There is no reason to ever carry a weapon, at any time,” he told 1919. “The Scottish Government fully supports Police Scotland to take appropriate action to safeguard public safety.
“Stop-and-search is a valuable tool in combatting crime and keeping people safe.”