Homicides in Glasgow dropped by 25% during the lockdown according to new figures.

There were 8 homicides in Glasgow city in 2020/21 a fall from 12 the year before.

It is the lowest in at least a decade and the only time the number has been in single figures in the last ten years.

The eight cases in Glasgow represented the highest in Scotland. There were seven in North Lanarkshire, five in South Lanarkshire, four in Renfrewshire and three in Falkirk.

Every other council area had one or two except Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian Eilean Siar, Moray, Scottish Borders and Shetland, Stirling and West Lothian who had none.

Across Scotland the homicide rate fell to the lowest level since 1976, with 55 cases recorded.

It is a drop of 10 cases, (15%)  from the previous year and the biggest fall since 2012/13.

The Scottish Government said:  “The nationwide lockdowns and other measures put in place to limit social contact during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic may have had an impact on the number of homicide cases. However, some caution is advised in assessing this, as the volume of cases recorded in 2020-21 is not substantially different to some earlier years (such as 59 in 2017-18).”

Cases in Glasgow include Omer Sadiq who was found seriously injured by Police officers who were flagged down on Boydstone Road in September  2020.