Meeting of the Parliament 11 June 2026 [Draft]
I congratulate Colin Beattie on securing this members’ business debate, and I commend his speech, which set out the issues very bluntly and very well.
Regrettably, we know all about the damaging impact of antisocial behaviour in Aberdeen and the north-east. Statistically, the most recorded antisocial offences by far are threatening or abusive behaviour, with drunkenness and other disorderly conduct being the second-largest category.
Such behaviour is present everywhere, as we have heard, but it is particularly evident in parts of Aberdeen city centre, particularly since the closure of Marks and Spencer on Union Street. Indeed, in the past year, police were called to Union Street almost 2,000 times to deal with a spike in criminality, predominantly involving thefts and fighting. Disgustingly, in another part of Aberdeen, two police officers were recently assaulted by a large group of youths when officers stopped an electric motorbike and issued a warning to a shoplifter, and those thugs went on to vandalise the police car.
I mentioned the Marks and Spencer shop. Just last month, police had to deal with the disgusting graffiti that appeared all over it. Vandalism of that sort is increasingly rife throughout the city centre.
As Aberdeen remembers only too well, a few years ago, police told our citizens that youths from as far away as Tayside were taking advantage of the free bus pass, which Colin Beattie mentioned, to visit Aberdeen and cause mayhem in the city centre. E-bikes, which were alluded to earlier, tear up and down Union Street, intimidating people and forcing them off pavements. Those bikes are being ridden illegally, often with no licence or insurance, and we have all heard of the alleged connections to drug dealing.