Minister calls for action as vandals run amok in cathedral and launch wrecking spree that destroys historic gravestones
IT IS a shocking image of inexplicable, wanton vandalism against a community landmark and a treasured piece of history, by children far too young to even watch a violent film.
Headstones lie toppled in the graveyard outside Brechin Cathedral, irre
versibly scarring a site that has honoured the lives of noblemen since the 17th century.
Four children, thought to be aged 11 to 13, burst into the cathedral while worshippers prayed on Saturday afternoon, stealing a protective glass cover from the communion table and using it to damage or destroy 11 separate headstones.
"The youths who came in took kneelers and threw them around," the Rev Scott Rennie, the minister at the cathedral, said.
"They also took a piece of glass which sits on top of the communion table. It was taken outside and it looks like it was used to chip inscriptions from headstones. It is just very sad."
The vandalism spree struck not only at the heart of one of Scotland's most treasured historic buildings, but also at the sensibilities of a society increasingly fearful of youth crime.
From grandmothers too afraid to go out of their front doors, to students refusing to walk home at night – anxiety about unruly youngsters seems to be growing by the day.
It may have reached a new height following the murder of Garry Newlove, a father of three from Warrington, who stood up to vandalism by children in his community, only to be "kicked like a football" and beaten to death by three drunk and out-of-control teenagers.
Even the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, has admitted she would never walk back to her London home at night.
But is youth crime in Scotland really getting worse?
The evidence is mixed, and, frankly, the data from police and other authorities, including the Scottish Government, is inconclusive, providing no definitive answers.
But there are enough pointers to support the burgeoning view that our youth is becoming more troublesome.
Vandalism among under-16s is getting worse, according to statistics from the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA).
Over the past four years, there has been a big increase in referrals, mainly from police, to the SCRA for vandalism.
In 2003-4, there were 9,392 such referrals – by 2006-7, that figure had soared by 41 per cent to 13,212. There has been an even bigger percentage rise in fire-raising among the young – from 728 to 1,089.
Meanwhile, figures published yesterday reveal that, in the North-east last year, children as young as four were caught committing crimes that could result in jail sentences for adults.
A four-year-old was caught housebreaking, while a five-year-old was shoplifting and six-year-olds committed a breach of the peace.
Is this the tragic manifestation of a society that is falling apart? Despite the apparent trends, experts warn against jumping to conclusions.
The figures may have been skewed by changes in the way crime is recorded and a tendency in recent years for police to swamp the SCRA with blanket referrals, with the intention of being tough, and being seen to be tough, on the problem of youth crime.
The statistics themselves appear contradictory. The number of referrals on offence grounds overall fell last year – by about 5 per cent, to 36,148 – and has remained relatively steady in past years. Indeed, the confusion has led the SNP administration to abandon the last Scottish Executive's controversial – and politically damaging – "persistent young offender" target.
Dr Fergus McNeill, a senior lecturer at the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, rejects the claim youth crime has become worse in recent years. "I have audited youth offending for six or seven local authorities. I only found it had significantly increased in one of them," he said.
He also cited fresh research, published in a respected academic journal yesterday, which found youth crime today was no worse than it was in the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s.
But Mr McNeill warned that a "change in relationship between young people and adults" may be "storing up trouble for the future". While strongly rejecting the notion that young people should be feared and blamed for society's ills, he hinted at an issue that a growing number of people believe has brought Scotland to a tipping point of sorts.
They argue that the bonds between young people and adults have been damaged to the point whereby many children refuse to live harmoniously in communities across the country: communities that, many believe, are increasingly becoming blighted by a small, but significant, minority of out-of-control thugs.
It is a problem, they claim, that did not exist when they were young.
Stuart Archibald, who owns a kilt-hire shop in Brechin, witnessed Saturday's vandalism at first hand, having earlier confronted the youngsters as they "went on the rampage" in the town's streets.
The 49-year-old, who lives next to the cathedral, said the youngsters, who were no older than 13, ran amok through the town, knocking over wheelie bins, throwing sweets at passing cars and yelling abuse at frightened shopkeepers.
"It was just horrible – I couldn't believe what they were doing," he said.
Mr Archibald believes the frequency of such incidents makes it more vital than ever that responsible adults stand up to the culprits – despite the tragic murder of Mr Newlove, whose killers were jailed last week.
Margaret Smith, MSP, the justice spokeswoman for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said a lack of solid parenting lay at the root of the problem.
In Brechin, however, people are asking themselves only one question: why?
As Mr Archibald put it: "The cathedral and grounds have survived invasion, reformation and modernisation. But it seems they are not able to survive today's children."
'Children need time being nurtured in healthy ways to live'Rev Scott Rennie
IT'S always dangerous to make generalisations from individual incidents, but in Brechin, as in towns the length and breadth of Scotland, youth crime and public disorder is an increasing worry.
When sacred spaces and places such as churches face vandalism, it is surely a sign that respect for things once deemed special has gone.
Trying to enter the mindset of those who mock those sitting in prayer, throw church furniture around like rubbish, and generally cause damage and distress is impossible.
None the less, I would like to ask them the question: "Why?"
It is a temptation, as one gets older, to idealise the past. There has always been youth crime and vandalism.
One casual read of Brechin Cathedral's Kirk Session minute books from the 17th century shows that clearly, even though the punishments were frighteningly draconian in those days.
Today the opposite is true. To what extent can it be said that restorative justice operates in our local communities?
Where are people made to face up to the reality of their misdemeanours and make some amends for them in the centre of the life of their community?
The majority of young folk in our small town, as in other towns like ours, are a credit to their community.
I know that from my extensive involvement with local schools and families.
I know lots of young people in their teens that are marvellous, but there is an increasingly significant minority who in some sense have lost their way. Again, the question is why?
There is no doubt in my mind that family and community breakdown lie at the root of the problem.
In comparison to other European countries, recent evidence shows our children spend too little time with their parents, being nurtured and shepherded in healthy ways to live.
Long hours at work can mean less time with our kids, and too many young people lead isolated lives from not only their parents, but their wider families, too.
It is the pattern of modern life – even in small country towns.
Youngsters as young as nine and ten wander the streets aimlessly in the late hours, sometimes finding drink, and sadly drugs, too, as a way to relieve their boredom.
Furthermore, as adults we live in a general culture where we fear our young people and fear making any kind of intervention in their lives, attitudes or behaviour, in case our actions will be misinterpreted.
In Brechin, there are marvellous people who give up their time to work with our young folk, but they are getting fewer in number.
Partly because of work commitments, partly because of a burgeoning regulatory framework that has people convinced if they work with youngsters, they put themselves in the way of risk.
It is an unsustainable situation, and a circle we have to square.
Children and young people in Scotland today need a stronger social support system in their families (whatever shape they happen to take) and their wider communities.
If we feel they are failing us, we might well ask: are we failing them?
• The Rev Scott Rennie is the minister of Brechin Cathedral.
How youth crime blights our lives• An estimated 43 per cent of all crimes and offences in Scotland are attributable to young people under the age of 21.
• Some 13,212 youngsters were referred to the Children's Reporter for vandalism in 2006-7 – that is 41 per cent higher than the 2003-4 figure of 9,392.
• The jump in fireraising cases was even higher, from 728 to 1,089 – a 50 per cent increase.
• In 2006-7, some 36,148 referrals were made to the Children's Reporter about youth offending. This represents a fall of 5 per cent on the previous year's figure of 38,090 – but a 5 per cent rise on the 34,316 referrals in 2003-4.
• Just over three-quarters (74 per cent) of youth offenders are boys.
• The highest rate of young offenders can be found in Glasgow, where 5.9 per cent of the youth population were referred to the Children's Reporter on offence grounds. In Edinburgh, the figure is 2.2 per cent.
• The average number of 16-21- year-olds in prison at any one time was 796 in 2006-7, compared with 685 the previous year.
The full article contains 1724 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
