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00:00This is your morning update for Thursday the 8th of May, 2025.
00:05Brought to you by the Edinburgh Evening News.
00:10Physical and verbal assaults in city schools double in four years.
00:13Physical and verbal attacks in Edinburgh secondary schools have almost doubled in four years, according to new figures.
00:20Statistics obtained by the Scottish Conservatives through a Freedom of Information request
00:24show that there were 187 incidents of verbal and physical assault in Edinburgh high schools between 2023 and 2024
00:32compared to 97 incidents between 2019 and 2020, an increase of 92%.
00:38A recent report described teachers being assaulted with knives, chairs, hockey sticks, fireworks and more.
00:44Some 80% of respondents reported being threatened with a weapon by a pupil and 90% had been verbally abused.
00:51Lothian MSP and Tory adduction spokesman Miles Briggs said SNP ministers should feel embarrassed and ashamed
00:58that classroom violence in Edinburgh has increased by 92%.
01:02The fact that this is a nationwide problem means that the blame cannot simply be handed on to local authorities,
01:08as the SNP have tried to do so far.
01:11Education convener Joan Griffiths said,
01:14We have a zero-tolerance approach to abuse against teachers and support staff working in our schools,
01:19and any reports of these incidences are taken extremely seriously.
01:24We offer training to teachers and support staff where required,
01:28to ensure that they are equipped to deal with any instances of pupil violence in an appropriate way.
01:34Urgent warning as warm weather brings very high risk of wildfires across Scotland.
01:39Residents across Edinburgh and the Lothians are being warned of a very high risk of wildfires in the coming days.
01:44The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, SFRS,
01:49is urging residents to avoid using naked flames outdoors to help reduce the risk of wildfires.
01:54The assessment, released in conjunction with the Scottish Wildfire Forum, SWF,
01:59covers all areas in Scotland.
02:01The Met Office has forecast warm and dry conditions in Edinburgh and surrounding areas for the rest of the week,
02:06prompting the SFRS to issue a very high danger assessment,
02:10which is in place until Friday, May 9th.
02:14A man has been sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted of serious sexual offences in Edinburgh.
02:25Kyle Karnacken, 28, committed the crimes between 2015 and 2017.
02:30He was sentenced on Wednesday 7th May, 2025, at the High Court in Edinburgh,
02:35having previously been found guilty at the same court on 9th April, 2025.
02:40He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register.
02:42For more news, go to edinborownews.scotsman.com
02:48And for more videos, check out shotstv.com