Children as young as 12 caught drinking
Once again drinking related disorder dominated the Chief Constable's Report to
Scottish Borders Licensing Board at a meeting last Friday, with underage
drinking giving particular cause for concern.
The report was presented to the board by Inspector Paula Clark of Lothian and Borders Police and was Chief Constable Paddy Tomkin's last before he officially left the Force.
He started by drawing attention to the fact that alcohol abuse in Scotland had been making headlines with the news that the country has the highest rate of alcohol-related deaths in the United Kingdom. Recent data has shown that Scots are twice as likely to die from alcohol related diseases than the average UK citizen.
For January to March 2007, the number of youngsters caught drinking in the Berwickshire stands at 30, over four times that of last year's figure of seven.
Fifteen and 16-year-olds are the worst offenders, with 11 and nine caught respectively in possession of or under the influence of alcohol in the past three months. Perhaps more worrying is the fact that a 12-year-old girl has been attended to by police in the region for the same problem.
Chief Constable Tomkins said: 'This increase is disappointing and almost certainly a result of the increased police patrols under the 'Safer Scotland' banner. My officers will not become complacent as there are still too many drunken children being admitted to the Borders General Hospital and also committing breaches of the peace. This is an on-going concern due to the risks of harm that go hand in hand with alcohol consumption by young people.'
Statistics show that under-age drinking is a much bigger issue in Berwickshire than in neighbouring Roxburgh, where 13 minors were caught by police, although this in itself is up on last year's figure of five.
Michelle Ballantyne, head of service at the Reiver Project, who have had someone as young as 10 referred to them for an alcohol-related problem, said that it's the way youngsters drink and what they are drinking that's at the heart of the problem.
'When they're drinking alcohol children don't think about the consequences they just knock it back to have fun. Alcohol will have a stronger affect on a young person as they are still developing and their bodies are smaller. Although most people don't see alcohol as a drug, it is and it's many youngsters' drug of choice.'
The youngsters caught with alcohol in Berwickshire between January and March have all been found outside and Michelle said that this came as no surprise as many think that alcohol will warm them up.
'It is a complete myth that alcohol can warm you up, if anything it leaves up more open to hypothermia as it makes you get colder quicker. Even after a couple of units of alcohol youngsters get misplaced confidence but at the same time their reactions are slower and their judgement is impaired- this increases the chance of them engaging in sexual activity and makes it more likely that it will be unprotected, which can have massive consequences.
'It is possible for youngsters to overdose on alcohol and in more extreme cases they can become comatosed or choke on their own vomit. Alcohol can poison your system and by binge drinking regularly from an early age damage can be done. Youngsters aren't paying the price at the time but they will in later life.
'Another myth is the belief that a couple of mugs of black coffee and a cold shower will help to gid rid of alcohol in your system. The only thing that can cure drunkeness is time.'
Only a few weeks ago Euan Robson MSP said that the closure or scaling down of youth facilities in the area, such as Duns Youth Centre and The Dry Dock in Eyemouth was leaving many youngsters with nothing to do on an evening.
Coldingham Community Council are starting their own youth club for children in the area after Easter, following a number of incidents involving under-age drinkers in the past month.
Youths had been gathering in the village square at night time and police were called out twice one Saturday evening and confiscated alcohol from the children involved. The community council felt that the closure of The Dry Dock was a contributing factor to the increase in disorder as youngsters were simply 'bored out of their brains'.
On a more positive note, recently published figures suggest that in the first three months of the year, alcohol-related incidents in licensed premises have decreased to 13, substantially down on last year's figure of 24 for the same period.
The figure is also down on the number of incidents which took place in licensed premises from October to January (31) although the busy festive period will have had a bareing on this high number. However, on the other side of the coin, late night drunken incidents in public places are on the up and this is giving cause for concern.
The peak time for alcohol-related disorder is between midnight-1am, with police being called to 28 incidents during this time so far this year. Another problem time is between 2-3am where police have attended to 26 alcohol related disturbances in the first three months of 2007.
Berwickshire Today
The report was presented to the board by Inspector Paula Clark of Lothian and Borders Police and was Chief Constable Paddy Tomkin's last before he officially left the Force.
He started by drawing attention to the fact that alcohol abuse in Scotland had been making headlines with the news that the country has the highest rate of alcohol-related deaths in the United Kingdom. Recent data has shown that Scots are twice as likely to die from alcohol related diseases than the average UK citizen.
For January to March 2007, the number of youngsters caught drinking in the Berwickshire stands at 30, over four times that of last year's figure of seven.
Fifteen and 16-year-olds are the worst offenders, with 11 and nine caught respectively in possession of or under the influence of alcohol in the past three months. Perhaps more worrying is the fact that a 12-year-old girl has been attended to by police in the region for the same problem.
Chief Constable Tomkins said: 'This increase is disappointing and almost certainly a result of the increased police patrols under the 'Safer Scotland' banner. My officers will not become complacent as there are still too many drunken children being admitted to the Borders General Hospital and also committing breaches of the peace. This is an on-going concern due to the risks of harm that go hand in hand with alcohol consumption by young people.'
Statistics show that under-age drinking is a much bigger issue in Berwickshire than in neighbouring Roxburgh, where 13 minors were caught by police, although this in itself is up on last year's figure of five.
Michelle Ballantyne, head of service at the Reiver Project, who have had someone as young as 10 referred to them for an alcohol-related problem, said that it's the way youngsters drink and what they are drinking that's at the heart of the problem.
'When they're drinking alcohol children don't think about the consequences they just knock it back to have fun. Alcohol will have a stronger affect on a young person as they are still developing and their bodies are smaller. Although most people don't see alcohol as a drug, it is and it's many youngsters' drug of choice.'
The youngsters caught with alcohol in Berwickshire between January and March have all been found outside and Michelle said that this came as no surprise as many think that alcohol will warm them up.
'It is a complete myth that alcohol can warm you up, if anything it leaves up more open to hypothermia as it makes you get colder quicker. Even after a couple of units of alcohol youngsters get misplaced confidence but at the same time their reactions are slower and their judgement is impaired- this increases the chance of them engaging in sexual activity and makes it more likely that it will be unprotected, which can have massive consequences.
'It is possible for youngsters to overdose on alcohol and in more extreme cases they can become comatosed or choke on their own vomit. Alcohol can poison your system and by binge drinking regularly from an early age damage can be done. Youngsters aren't paying the price at the time but they will in later life.
'Another myth is the belief that a couple of mugs of black coffee and a cold shower will help to gid rid of alcohol in your system. The only thing that can cure drunkeness is time.'
Only a few weeks ago Euan Robson MSP said that the closure or scaling down of youth facilities in the area, such as Duns Youth Centre and The Dry Dock in Eyemouth was leaving many youngsters with nothing to do on an evening.
Coldingham Community Council are starting their own youth club for children in the area after Easter, following a number of incidents involving under-age drinkers in the past month.
Youths had been gathering in the village square at night time and police were called out twice one Saturday evening and confiscated alcohol from the children involved. The community council felt that the closure of The Dry Dock was a contributing factor to the increase in disorder as youngsters were simply 'bored out of their brains'.
On a more positive note, recently published figures suggest that in the first three months of the year, alcohol-related incidents in licensed premises have decreased to 13, substantially down on last year's figure of 24 for the same period.
The figure is also down on the number of incidents which took place in licensed premises from October to January (31) although the busy festive period will have had a bareing on this high number. However, on the other side of the coin, late night drunken incidents in public places are on the up and this is giving cause for concern.
The peak time for alcohol-related disorder is between midnight-1am, with police being called to 28 incidents during this time so far this year. Another problem time is between 2-3am where police have attended to 26 alcohol related disturbances in the first three months of 2007.
Berwickshire Today
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