It is a constant disappointment to my parents that, despite the fact I spent four years studying law and earned the right to put LLB Hons (First Class) after my name, 30 years on here I am sat writing an article for you guys rather than standing up with a horsehair wig on my head earning a lot more money. But I’ve no regrets: law was a wonderful subject to study and although most of the details have flitted from my head, one or two are still there. Such as ignorantia juris neminem excusat (which I’ve tried to get round a few times) and one other little nugget from criminology I want to tell you about that has sometimes come in handy in journalism.

It is no surprise really that it’s criminology that has stuck in my head the most after all this time because it was always my favourite subject – certainly preferable to Roman Law (what is the law on slaves?) or Delict (what is the law if you find a slug in your beer in Paisley?) or Jurisprudence (what is law anyway?) Most of my studies focused on what the statutes said and what happened if you disobeyed them, but criminology looked at the whys, and it was particularly interesting on the subject of the way we look at crime, and more importantly how we feel about it.

I mention all of this now because it’s relevant to the latest stats on crime, which have just been published, which means the latest metaphors on the stats on crime have also just been published: crime is ‘soaring’, ‘skyrocketing’, we’re a ‘soft-touch’ etc. The stats certainly look pretty stark on their own: for the year ending in June, murder and culpable homicide were up 40%, shoplifting up 20%, domestic abuse 19%, assault 7% and sexual crimes 9%. If you worry about crime, and who doesn’t at least sometimes, then you’re probably going to worry about these figures.

The........

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