Scotland experienced a night of organised “Bonfire Night” clashes resulting in eight police officers getting injured. The most violent disorder took place in Edinburgh’s Niddrie area where it was reported a group of around 50 youths hurled fireworks and petrol bombs at the police causing “unprecedented levels of violence”. Adult behaviour caught on camera directing children to commit crimes was described as “tantamount to child abuse” by Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs who also confirmed that officers had made one arrest at the scene and had captured “hours and hours of footage” for evidence against these offenders.
First Minister Humza Yousaf vehemently condemned this level of violence, particularly in Niddrie and asked for the people involved to “feel the full force of the law”. He also promised the consideration of what further action could be taken to crack down on the misuse of fireworks. In Glasgow, twenty youths were seen fighting and throwing fireworks at one another in the Quarrywood Avenue area of Barmulloch, which led to four people, including a police officer, being taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary for treatment.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service claimed to have suffered nine attacks on its crews during an eight-hour period on Bonfire Night. This included crews experiencing bombarding with fireworks and bricks in Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Blantyre in South Lanarkshire, and Blackburn in West Lothian. However, no firefighters were injured, however, a fire appliance in West Lothian had a smashed windscreen and had to be removed from operational service. The previous week had already seen four attacks on crews in Ayrshire and Edinburgh, and two other weekend attacks in Troon and Glasgow. Assistant chief officer Andy Watt described the week’s total of 15 attacks as “completely unacceptable”.
Niddrie resident, Liz Jack, spoke to the media about the attacks and commented that this was “100 times worse than last year”, she also backed the calls for a ban on the sale of fireworks to individuals. City of Edinburgh Council leader, Cammy Day, described the attacks as “unprecedented…. disgusting and appalling” and stated that the council has called for an “urgent debrief look at what happened, how that plan was executed, and how we plan ahead for the future”. Mr Day also supported a ban on the sale of fireworks to the general public
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