Youth violence campaigners urge Scot Gov to increase funding after death of teen

Campaigners have called on the Scottish Government to increase funding to tackle youth violence following the death of a teenage boy in Glasgow.

Families of child victims and politicians have called for an urgent cash injection after 16-year-old Kory McCrimmon passed away at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital last weekend. The teenager died on Sunday, June 2 after becoming seriously injured during a disturbance at Greenfield Park in the city’s east end two days prior.

Following the tragedy, the Record asked the Scottish Government if it would increase funding to tackle similar incidents.

It confirmed it would allocate over £2m in 2024, the same figure it said it would invest in 2023, following the launch of the Record’s Our Kids … Our Future campaign, which has repeatedly called on officials to invest in safe spaces for youngsters.

Vicky Donald, whose 12-year-old daughter, Kaylynn, was attacked by bullies on the back of a school bus, said the current funds are clearly falling short.

Vicky, 37, from Ladybank in Fife, said: “Clearly, £2m every year isn’t enough. If it were enough, incidents similar to Kory’s death would not continue to happen.

“I’m gobsmacked that they haven’t injected extra cash into safe spaces for kids or programmes to put them on the right path. A child is now dead and something has to change.

“They’re going to need a lot more than £2m to clean up this mess.”

Angela Jarvis also accused the Scottish Government of not taking the issue seriously enough. Her daughter, Abbie, was brutally assaulted just weeks before Kaylynn’s attack as the then 12-year-old was lured into a skatepark in Glasgow’s Drumchapel before she was set upon by another girl.

Angela, 44, said: “Two million pounds isn’t scratching the surface – this is an epidemic now and kids are dying. I don’t think they realise how serious youth violence is right now, it is completely dominating teenagers’ lives.

“It shouldn’t take for a kid to have to die for them to even consider looking at this issue again – we’ve been warning them something serious would happen for over a year now.”

The uncle of a 13-year-old boy who was beaten by bullies in Fort William warned deaths like Kory’s will continue to devastate communities until the issue is tackled. At the time of his nephew’s attack, the 46-year-old told the Record he feared a child would die if action wasn’t taken soon enough.

The victim’s uncle, who has asked to remain anonymous over fears his nephew will be targeted again, said: “How can they continue going about their business thinking £2m will even scratch the surface?

“Investing the same amount of money year on year isn’t going to work anymore. It has hit a crisis point and unless there is more cash, deaths like Kory’s will continue to happen.

“I warned that it was only a matter of time before a child gets killed. This child hasn’t been the first and unfortunately won’t be the last until something is done about youth violence.

“How many children have to lose their lives before enough is enough? Why can’t they ramp up funds for the lives of children?”

Politicians also blasted the Scottish Government for being “extraordinarily insensitive” and accused it of “failing” to respond to Kory’s tragic death.

Former Justice Secretary MP Kenny MacAskill said: “The situation is worsening, youth violence is escalating and therefore action needs to be taken and the budget has to be increased. They are resting on their morals while the ground is changing.

“We need to stop the violence happening which means supplying safe spaces and facilities to divert kids from mischief. We know what needs to be done, we’ve just got to provide the funds so it can be achieved.”

Liberal Democrats MSP Willie Rennie said: “It is clear that £2m isn’t enough to tackle this epidemic. It is extraordinarily insensitive for the government to fail to respond to the recent tragic death of a teenager as a result of violence among young people.

“We need a government that can respond to the crisis by providing appropriate investment to communities to be able to reverse this tide. Families are rightly outraged by this inaction and we deserve better from the government.”

Labour MSP Monica Lennon added: “It’s disgraceful that the SNP government has failed to increase funding to tackle youth violence. John Swinney must sort his priorities before any more children or young people are harmed.

“Tackling youth violence should have been a priority for the Scottish Government. The Daily Record’s Our Kids…Our Future campaign is leading the fight for a fair deal for our youth.

“It’s time the First Minister put proper funding in place, as lip service won’t save young lives.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Over £2 million was invested in 2023-24 to deliver the Violence Prevention Framework and another over £2 million will be spent this year.

“The Framework is supporting the Medics Against Violence school education programme to deliver strong anti-violence messages to pupils and it supports the work of YouthLink Scotland to deliver No Knives Better Lives programme, and the Mentors in Violence Prevention programme, with over 1,000 young mentors providing gender-based violence sessions in schools.

“This will all contribute to our priority of tackling violence and building on the decrease in violent crime we’ve seen since 2007.”

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