Hundreds of knives, needles and weapons have been confiscated from people entering Aberdeen Sheriff Court this year, new figures have revealed.
Between the start of 2019 and the end of October, more than 200 items were seized from those trying to make their way into the city centre court rooms.
These included 35 knives, 15 tools, quantities of drugs and alcohol, and 141 “miscellaneous” pieces of contraband.
However the statistics, obtained by the Scottish Conservatives, show that more than 1,000 seizures were made during the course of 2018 – suggesting there has been a large drop in the number of people attempting to smuggle banned items into the building.
The vast majority of those were also classified as miscellaneous, but the totals included 80 knives and 72 needles among the confiscations.
Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary and North East MSP Liam Kerr said: “It’s vital the public are kept safe and Scotland’s court staff do everything they can to maintain high levels of safety.
“But these figures show the difficult task those working in our courts face on a day-to-day basis.”
He condemned those responsible for trying to sneak contraband into the courtroom.
“It’s not acceptable for people to think they can flout the law by being in possession of these dangerous items,” Mr Kerr added.
“These people who are found with items like this are a serious risk to the public as well as themselves.”
When entering a court building, people must pass through a security gate where staff are able to search bags and use body scanners and metal detectors to find and seize any dangerous objects.
Anyone found with a weapon is then referred to the police, and can face charges identical to those caught carrying one in any other public place.
A spokeswoman for The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service said: “The service takes the safety of all court users very seriously.
“We work closely with partners, including the police, to take all reasonable precautions against dangerous items being introduced into court buildings.
“Various measures protect against potentially dangerous items being introduced into court buildings.
“Aberdeen has a permanent security presence and visitors are required to pass through metal-detecting archways and be monitored with hand-held detecting wands used by security teams.
“We work in close collaboration with Police Scotland who have officers stationed in courthouses. The discovery of any weapon or potential weapon by staff is immediately reported to the police.
“Any item which is considered to be a potential risk to public safety could be confiscated on entering a court building.
“Many recorded confiscations are domestic items or work tools which people bring to court but are inappropriate to take into a courtroom.”
