Fireworks Night Violence

My son was telling me about multiple bus windows smashed with bricks most of those in Niddrie last Night. Cars smashed at Calder Road and along Seafield too and the sum total of one arrest from what he hears. Combine that with fireworks through letterboxes and in Petrol Stations and the general disorder at this time of year with eggs and apples etc chucked at houses and I think there needs to be think about sales of fireworks, policing and having organised events to try and give kids something to do.

It utterly baffles me that a group of kids who everyone knows will be causing bother in a fairly small area can outfox the Police every year and cause 10s of thousands of pounds worth of damage. The damage to the buses will essentially be money out of the Council Budget so even less services.

It appears to be getting worse and I think that we are now at the point where no fireworks should be sold and they should only be allowed at organised displays.

The police also really need to start to try policing. My daughter was seriously assaulted over 2 months ago and it was videoed by the gang that did it. The police took her to Hospital, I phoned twice to 101 and also complained at a case conference. Up to this point they haven't asked for the video and all they have said is the officer and his sergeant have been on extended leave. I get the feeling the youths causing this brother feel there is no chance teh Police will bother trying to stop them or catch them after the event.

I'm very much for improving youth services and support but that seems to be completely broken and even more money now being withdrawn to Youth Groups that do fantastic work. I can't see how this gets any better as society continues to unravel. Can anyone spark a bit of light at the end of the tunnel for me.

Absolutely no reason you’re average punter should be allowed to buy explosives.

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Originally Posted by wookie70

My son was telling me about multiple bus windows smashed with bricks most of those in Niddrie last Night. Cars smashed at Calder Road and along Seafield too and the sum total of one arrest from what he hears. Combine that with fireworks through letterboxes and in Petrol Stations and the general disorder at this time of year with eggs and apples etc chucked at houses and I think there needs to be think about sales of fireworks, policing and having organised events to try and give kids something to do.

It utterly baffles me that a group of kids who everyone knows will be causing bother in a fairly small area can outfox the Police every year and cause 10s of thousands of pounds worth of damage. The damage to the buses will essentially be money out of the Council Budget so even less services.

It appears to be getting worse and I think that we are now at the point where no fireworks should be sold and they should only be allowed at organised displays.

The police also really need to start to try policing. My daughter was seriously assaulted over 2 months ago and it was videoed by the gang that did it. The police took her to Hospital, I phoned twice to 101 and also complained at a case conference. Up to this point they haven't asked for the video and all they have said is the officer and his sergeant have been on extended leave. I get the feeling the youths causing this brother feel there is no chance teh Police will bother trying to stop them or catch them after the event.

I'm very much for improving youth services and support but that seems to be completely broken and even more money now being withdrawn to Youth Groups that do fantastic work. I can't see how this gets any better as society continues to unravel. Can anyone spark a bit of light at the end of the tunnel for me.

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I think it’s only a matter of time before non-existent policing is widely replaced by proper vigilantism, which isn’t a great thought.

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Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

Absolutely no reason you’re average punter should be allowed to buy explosives.

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Yepp. Add to that the distress they cause to animals, they want banning.

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Originally Posted by wookie70

My son was telling me about multiple bus windows smashed with bricks most of those in Niddrie last Night. Cars smashed at Calder Road and along Seafield too and the sum total of one arrest from what he hears. Combine that with fireworks through letterboxes and in Petrol Stations and the general disorder at this time of year with eggs and apples etc chucked at houses and I think there needs to be think about sales of fireworks, policing and having organised events to try and give kids something to do.

It utterly baffles me that a group of kids who everyone knows will be causing bother in a fairly small area can outfox the Police every year and cause 10s of thousands of pounds worth of damage. The damage to the buses will essentially be money out of the Council Budget so even less services.

It appears to be getting worse and I think that we are now at the point where no fireworks should be sold and they should only be allowed at organised displays.

The police also really need to start to try policing. My daughter was seriously assaulted over 2 months ago and it was videoed by the gang that did it. The police took her to Hospital, I phoned twice to 101 and also complained at a case conference. Up to this point they haven't asked for the video and all they have said is the officer and his sergeant have been on extended leave. I get the feeling the youths causing this brother feel there is no chance teh Police will bother trying to stop them or catch them after the event.

I'm very much for improving youth services and support but that seems to be completely broken and even more money now being withdrawn to Youth Groups that do fantastic work. I can't see how this gets any better as society continues to unravel. Can anyone spark a bit of light at the end of the tunnel for me.

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Really sorry to hear about your daughter and I hope she is on the mend.

I think the incidents over the last few days a clear indication that those responsible think and maybe know they can do what they want and even if they are caught nothing will happen. Whilst this is not on the scale of the recent riots down south (maybe not too far off in certain areas) examples were made of those responsible and until the authorities - Police and the PF in Scotland really need to do the same.

This softly softly approach to these poor wee lambs doesn’t with the - it’s not their fault really, is a pile of pish. Man enough to do the crime man enough to do the time.

I have a number of friends in the Police and they work in the Community. Their biggest hurdle is those above them making the decisions. They are more interested in answering calls than dealing with ongoing issues involving youth disorder and ASB. Years ago you would see officers patrolling on foot in most areas and specifically in areas with problems but now you are lucky if you see anything.

Wookie i know you may have done this already but a serious assault should be a priority and should be passed to someone else for enquiry if these officers are long term absent. Also dealt with appropriately with all the evidence gathered before it is lost. I’d ask the question again and if you get fobbed off just say you will be taking legal advice, contacting the media and making an official complaint through the appropriate channels.

I would suggest contacting the Local Area Commander - it will be a Chief Inspectir for that specific area and ask them.

Don’t take no for an answer and I’m sure you won’t.

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Originally Posted by Smartie

I think it’s only a matter of time before non-existent policing is widely replaced by proper vigilantism, which isn’t a great thought.

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When I was discussing this with my wife that was my conclusion too. That was a best case scenario as it could be that the youths who are doing this grow older, continue on the same path and essentially take over and become too powerful for others to challenge. I feel very old and way too Tory saying that but there simply doesn't seem to be any plan from government to actually Police our streets and give youngsters a bit more hope and activities to keep them interested and positive.

Saw a video on Reddit of some bams in Edinburgh putting fireworks through folks letterboxes. I can’t comprehend how folk can do something like this without thinking of the consequences.

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Originally Posted by Lendo

Saw a video on Reddit of some bams in Edinburgh putting fireworks through folks letterboxes. I can’t comprehend how folk can do something like this without thinking of the consequences.

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That was scary to watch never mind if you were in that house

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Originally Posted by Lendo

Saw a video on Reddit of some bams in Edinburgh putting fireworks through folks letterboxes. I can’t comprehend how folk can do something like this without thinking of the consequences.

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Seen that, no need at all to do that, they joked about the living room lighting up and having a laugh, if caught then surely attempt murder and arson would be the charges with long sentences when found guilty and that may get in to the heads of the young team that it’s not worth it, and the amount of young females out and about causing chaos the other night was alarming, Police should be posting pictures of folk wanted for what happened the other night on social media, FFS I even seen a dad being interviewed and he blamed the police for all of this while his daughter was filming on her phone.

I live in the area of the Calder road incidents and I’ve never seen anything like it.
I was unfortunately out in the car when it was at its worst and couldn’t get home for love nor money due to the roads everywhere in the area being closed off by the police because of these little cretins,ended up driving about for 45 minutes until I managed to wrangle my way through Broomhouse to get home which was a experience in itself.
All started years ago when the fire brigade would rock up at bonfires and get bricks and stuff thrown at them and nothing was done to stamp it out and here we are now

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Originally Posted by Willis1875

All started years ago when the fire brigade would rock up at bonfires and get bricks and stuff thrown at them and nothing was done to stamp it out and here we are now

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Spot on. It is similar to the young teams at the football. Let them away with it and what they are doing becomes boring and it emboldens them to go a stage further. When you look at the ridiculous efforts made after the 2016 cup finals the resources are clearly there when needed. I feel that if the police started visibly policing and getting criminals arrested and then they were sentenced accordingly I think we would see this type of street crime fall dramatically. I'm in favour of rehabilitation and support particularly when offenders are young but if they have been involved in this level of crime for years that becomes much harder. Action needs to be taken at the earliest point so a different path can be found. As it is we are not making any effort to change youth behaviour until it is completely ingrained and it could be argued we are making it appear it is not a big problem which makes it grow.

Whilst not on the same scale, this has been happening for the last 40+ years.
I remember bonfires that turned bad with feral youth running amok afterwards in the Oxgangs area around the mid 80's. When the fire brigade arrived they weren't shy in directing their hoses on those who failed to get out the way.
Perhaps going forward the emphasis should be put on the parents/guardians to know where the younger generation are on these nights of disruption. It won't be popular and might reek of right wing Toryism, but maybe if the parents of those involved were punished the message would get through.
We can't cuddle this better, this has nothing to do with the young adults having nothing better to do with their time since community and social services were reduced or withdrawn. That argument has been used for decades. Not every teen is doing this and it's not happening all over town.
Get tough on the behaviour, get tougher on the cause.

This year we're already seeing that there has been 19 arrests. That'll show us the police are doing something and calm us all down!

I'd be interested to see what the outcome/sentencing was for last year. No idea where I'd find it.

I think we'd all be sorely disappointed. The guidelines states that rehabilitation should be a primary consideration when sentencing a young person. In other words a very softly softly approach.

Because there's no effective deterrent wee feral neds are running amok and not just running but taken the piss out of society terrorising the public on their electric bikes and dirt bikes. There are multiple incidents each week in Leith. It's only a matter of time until someone dies because of neds on bikes. Innocents have already been seriously injured.

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Originally Posted by Jack

This year we're already seeing that there has been 19 arrests. That'll show us the police are doing something and calm us all down!

I'd be interested to see what the outcome/sentencing was for last year. No idea where I'd find it.

I think we'd all be sorely disappointed. The guidelines states that rehabilitation should be a primary consideration when sentencing a young person. In other words a very softly softly approach.

Because there's no effective deterrent wee feral neds are running amok and not just running but taken the piss out of society terrorising the public on their electric bikes and dirt bikes. There are multiple incidents each week in Leith. It's only a matter of time until someone dies because of neds on bikes. Innocents have already been seriously injured.

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I was up running round the Meadows the other night when four of them came hurtling across the grass in to the path on dirt bikes, genuinely going 50mph across the park. It was rush hour, incredibly busy with folk out walking and cycling home. Utterly terrifying, zero regard for anyone’s safety.

We had a group of about 10 boys all dressed in black and on Scooter's come into our little development and smash up a house, windows all done in and the car smashed up. I saw them leaving the development and saw them go into Morrisons but the Police took about 40 mins to arrive and at that point they had gone. I did give a statement and it feels like they know exactly who they were but there is not much they can do.

Well this is a depressing thread. On top of this week's US election, and Hibs' on field performance, there's not a lot to be happy about right now.

The state of policing and the running of our local council is ridiculous. Next to no reason for either to exist.

For the last four years we’ve had a number of problem neighbours. First lot were in lockdown, and they made a horrendous noise all day and night. Physically intimated disabled woman downstairs to the point the police were involved. Pools of vomit and urine outside the door of a downstairs neighbour receiving chemotherapy, during a pandemic. Food thrown out of windows. Council found no evidence of issues, and didn’t even bother to look out the back as nobody was asked for a key and their report said they couldn’t get access to the locked garden. Useless.

Second lot were clearly dealing drugs and all sorts were arriving day and night. Never felt safe.

Latest lot leave the stairs in a horrific mess and the smell of cannabis fills our flat every night. There is one council flat in our block and they just seem to think “ah, it’s not a good part of town, just stick them in there”. Our elderly neighbour who has lived here for over thirty years has moved out because of the stress.


Family across the road have two little ****s of kids. Smashing glass everywhere. My car was spray painted and they had spray painted things with their own name nearby. Complained to the police. Other than the call centre phoning me, it was never followed up.


The area is strewn with litter. Gangs on electric bikes roam the area. You complain to the council, they say to go to the police. You go to the police, you don’t get a call back. Witnessed someone having a laptop robbed in town earlier this year, took over a week for someone to take a statement. No use then.

Honestly at the end of my tether with it all. Utterly miserable. I’m very grateful to have the friends and family I have as I can only imagine what it would be like if you’re a young woman, or old person by yourself.

It’s horrendous. We all deserve much better.

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Originally Posted by Northernhibee

The state of policing and the running of our local council is ridiculous. Next to no reason for either to exist.

For the last four years we’ve had a number of problem neighbours. First lot were in lockdown, and they made a horrendous noise all day and night. Physically intimated disabled woman downstairs to the point the police were involved. Pools of vomit and urine outside the door of a downstairs neighbour receiving chemotherapy, during a pandemic. Food thrown out of windows. Council found no evidence of issues, and didn’t even bother to look out the back as nobody was asked for a key and their report said they couldn’t get access to the locked garden. Useless.

Second lot were clearly dealing drugs and all sorts were arriving day and night. Never felt safe.

Latest lot leave the stairs in a horrific mess and the smell of cannabis fills our flat every night. There is one council flat in our block and they just seem to think “ah, it’s not a good part of town, just stick them in there”. Our elderly neighbour who has lived here for over thirty years has moved out because of the stress.


Family across the road have two little ****s of kids. Smashing glass everywhere. My car was spray painted and they had spray painted things with their own name nearby. Complained to the police. Other than the call centre phoning me, it was never followed up.


The area is strewn with litter. Gangs on electric bikes roam the area. You complain to the council, they say to go to the police. You go to the police, you don’t get a call back. Witnessed someone having a laptop robbed in town earlier this year, took over a week for someone to take a statement. No use then.

Honestly at the end of my tether with it all. Utterly miserable. I’m very grateful to have the friends and family I have as I can only imagine what it would be like if you’re a young woman, or old person by yourself.

It’s horrendous. We all deserve much better.

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Really sorry to hear all that. We had a similar issue when we lived in Lady Nairn. Block of six with one council tenant. They had been moved through from the west. One marriage break up directly above them because of noise, one kid in that relationship very ill and the rest of us living on our nerves. Your description is almost identical to our scenario and that one family really effected the whole neighborhood. Glad we got out of Edinburgh

https://www.youtube.com/live/wXOAhEq...pKHY8GM7QwHp0z

Young people from our more marginalised communities living without hope in the midst of Scotland's most affluent city take the opportunity to go radge. I'm only surprised that it doesn't happen more often.

Disconnection leads to nihilistic responses. It doesn't make it alright though, but there are other takes on the issue.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24...oach-bus-fire/

Ok not Edinburgh, but 12 years old!! :confused:

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TWO youths, aged 12, have been arrested and charged in connection with a bus fire in Stevenston.

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https://www.thenational.scot/resourc...ds-article-962

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Originally Posted by grunt

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24...oach-bus-fire/

Ok not Edinburgh, but 12 years old!! :confused:


https://www.thenational.scot/resourc...ds-article-962

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It's amazing what poverty and disconnection will do to some people.

I wonder how much of the lack of respect for the law and basic common decency stems from the top down? You can point to the US but we saw the open flouting of rules from people in high places during the lockdown as well.

The police as well. I was at the shops tonight and a polis car sped into the car park and parked on double yellows right at the door. I expected to see some sort of bother inside. Nope. Two guys went in, grabbed basket, picked up a few bits and pieces then got back in the motor and sped off again. Great example right there.

I'm probably giving the type of people who's post a firework through someone's letterbox too much credit but there must be a bit of 'if they can do it why can't I' at play when it comes to breaking the law.

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Originally Posted by Pretty Boy

I wonder how much of the lack of respect for the law and basic common decency stems from the top down? You can point to the US but we saw the open flouting of rules from people in high places during the lockdown as well.

The police as well. I was at the shops tonight and a polis car sped into the car park and parked on double yellows right at the door. I expected to see some sort of bother inside. Nope. Two guys went in, grabbed basket, picked up a few bits and pieces then got back in the motor and sped off again. Great example right there.

I'm probably giving the type of people who's post a firework through someone's letterbox too much credit but there must be a bit of 'if they can do it why can't I' at play when it comes to breaking the law.

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Funnily enough I saw a similar situation with the police the other day.

They’re always pulling people up on Raeburn Place for being parked on zig zags. Think it might be points and a fine for doing that? The other day though I saw a police car pull in, both them get out and go to order sandwiches at the cafe.

50 hours community service, courts are having a laugh.

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Originally Posted by silverhibee

50 hours community service, courts are having a laugh.

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Is that all they got?


:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by silverhibee

50 hours community service, courts are having a laugh.

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A ****** disgrace of a sentence.

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Originally Posted by Scouse Hibee

A ****** disgrace of a sentence.

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It hardly sends out a deterrent that if you do this then you get a slap on the wrist, it will be chaos next firework night when folk know you can terrorise communities and basically get away with it.

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Originally Posted by silverhibee

50 hours community service, courts are having a laugh.

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Do they have to do all 50 or just 40% under new SNP policy?

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Originally Posted by easty

Do they have to do all 50 or just 40% under new SNP policy?

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I think the criminal gets to decide what they’d prefer nowadays.

I was just reading about a man who failed to turn up for his community payback orders so the sheriff revoked the orders, his only punishment now is that he has to stay in his house at night!

https://archive.ph/2025.02.19-170434...-flipping-car/