Latest news with #McArthur-Kerr
Daily Record
24-06-2025
- Daily Record
POLICE COLUMN: Detective Chief Inspector Barry McDaid
Detective Chief Inspector McDaid spoke on the dangers of cannabis cultivations As the Detective Chief Inspector for Lothians and Scottish Borders Division, this is my first column and I'm grateful to Chief Inspector McArthur-Kerr for allowing me the opportunity to focus on some very serious issues we've been working hard to address. The first is in relation to drug supply and in particular, cannabis cultivations. For a cannabis cultivation to be financially viable, a significant space is required, and thereafter high levels of electricity and water are used to maximise the growth of the plants. What we tend to see is that criminals will either force entry to an unoccupied property, or they will rent a large home or building from an unsuspecting landlord. They will then tamper with electricity meters and plumbing to meet the needs of their cannabis growing operation. Not only is this incredibly dangerous, particularly when you're messing with electricity and water, it ultimately results in significant damage to the properties in question and means that those who own these buildings are left to foot the cost of repairs. Since March 2025, the West Proactive Crime Team (PCT) have been progressing inquiries involving intercepted packages of cannabis going to a variety of addresses in West Lothian, Midlothian, and Edinburgh. Between January and April 2025, UK Border Force intercepted 68kgs for addresses assessed to belong to the group involved. On April 1, West PCT seized a further 25 kgs of cannabis from an address in Livingston with a further 1kg from a neighbouring address. As a result of evidential analysis carried out following these searches, warrants were granted for 15 further properties throughout the Lothians and Scottish Borders Division, and Edinburgh. Three men aged 33, 31 and 24 were subsequently charged in connection with these inquiries. In addition to the 68kgs of cannabis seized by UKBF, police enforcement saw the recovery of 42kgs of cannabis along with around £24,000 in cash. The estimated value of all of the drugs seized attributed to group is around £700,000. On June 10 and 11, two large scale cannabis cultivations were discovered in Livingston and Uphall and after warrants were executed at these addresses, plants worth over £80,000 were recovered in Livingston, while within Uphall the value of the cultivation was totalled to be around £320,000. Within both cultivation addresses, Vietnamese males were discovered and reported being victims of human trafficking. Our inquiries are continuing. This brings me onto the second issue I wanted to discuss, namely human trafficking. Organised criminals continually look to exploit vulnerable people for their own gain and often this takes the form of bringing people from foreign countries into the UK illegally and making them work in squalid and dangerous conditions – usually through fear and intimidation. We treat all reports of human trafficking with the utmost seriousness and work with international partners to return victims to their countries of origin while relentlessly pursuing those responsible for such offences. If you have any concerns relating to organised crime, drug offences or human trafficking, please contact us via 101 or make an anonymous report to the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Edinburgh Reporter
08-05-2025
- Edinburgh Reporter
Hate crime incidents in Midlothian increase by more than 30%
Hate crime incidents in Midlothian increased by more than 30% as police continued to deal with the 'hangover' over new laws last year. A Police Scotland update on crime in Midlothian reported the number of hate crimes recorded between October, last year, and March was 181 -nearly a third higher than the five years average covering the same period. Acting local area commander Kirsty McArthur-Kerr told a meeting of Midlothian Police and Fire Board that the offences covered a range of aggravators including disability, race, religion, sexual orientation and transgender. And she said the rise was anticipated in the wake of the introduction of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act that was introduced on the 1st of April 2024. Inspector McArthur-Kerr told the board: 'We are still seeing the hangover from that and we continue to work with partners to encourage reporting of all hate crimes. 'Hate has no place in society and Midlothian police will actively pursue offenders and report criminality where evidence supports this.' The report revealed that elsewhere operations were having a positive impact on incidents across the county with no fatalities on the roads reports over the last year – something Councillor Peter Smaill hailed as not recalling being reported before. And there was a drop on housebreaking incidents, including attempted break-ins by nearly 13% with the detection rate higher than the national average at almost 39%. Inspector McArthur-Kerr said a dedicated housebreaking team had been established in the county with officers hand picked for their investigation skills. She told the board the team was able to look at not just individual reports, but bring them together to look for trends and tackle them. She added the availability of dashcam footage and doorbell camera and CCTV had made a huge difference to catching criminals telling the board 'it is worth its weight on gold.' By Marie Sharp Local Democracy Reporter Like this: Like Related
Edinburgh Live
08-05-2025
- Edinburgh Live
Hate crime in Midlothian rises by a third as new law 'hangover' continues
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Hate crime incidents in Midlothian increased by more than 30% as police continued to deal with the 'hangover' over new laws last year. A Police Scotland update on crime in Midlothian reported the number of hate crimes recorded between October, last year, and March was 181 -nearly a third higher than the five years average covering the same period. Acting local area commander Kirsty McArthur-Kerr told a meeting of Midlothian Police and Fire Board that the offences covered a range of aggravators including disability, race, religion, sexual orientation and transgender. And she said the rise was anticipated in the wake of the introduction of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act that was introduced on the 1st of April 2024. Inspector McArthur-Kerr told the board: "We are still seeing the hangover from that and we continue to work with partners to encourage reporting of all hate crimes. "Hate has no place in society and Midlothian police will actively pursue offenders and report criminality where evidence supports this." The report revealed that elsewhere operations were having a positive impact on incidents across the county with no fatalities on the roads reports over the last year - something Councillor Peter Smaill hailed as not recalling being reported before. And there was a drop on housebreaking incidents, including attempted break-ins by nearly 13% with the detection rate higher than the national average at almost 39%. Inspector McArthur-Kerr said a dedicated housebreaking team had been established in the county with officers hand picked for their investigation skills. She told the board the team was able to look at not just individual reports, but bring them together to look for trends and tackle them. She added the availability of dashcam footage and doorbell camera and CCTV had made a huge difference to catching criminals telling the board "it is worth its weight on gold."
