Date: 23 November 2009 BROCKLEBANK : ‘DRAMATIC RISE IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE MUST BE STOPPED’ New figures uncovered by the Scottish Conservatives have shown that there has been a dramatic 36% increase in the number of people convicted of domestic violence in Tayside, Central & Fife for 2007/08. This is in stark contrast to the figures for Scotland as a whole where there has actually been a small drop in the number of people convicted of domestic violence.
Commenting, Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Ted Brocklebank, said;
“I am alarmed at the huge increases we have seen in domestic violence in recent years in Tayside, Central and Fife. In 2007/08 there were 555 cases of domestic violence in the area, which was a 36% increase on the previous year and a 75% increase in just two years. This trend is completely unacceptable and highlights an urgent need for more effective deterrents to be put in place to stop domestic abuse.
“Currently only one in ten people convicted of domestic violence receives a custodial sentence, with two-thirds of offenders receiving a monetary punishment or an admonishment instead. This does not send out the message that domestic violence will not be tolerated in our society.
“If we are to reduce the number of cases of domestic abuse in Tayside, Central and Fife then we must take a firmer stance against offenders by making greater use of our jails as a punishment. If people know they are likely to go to jail for abusing their partner then instances of domestic violence will surely be reduced.”
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