Police Scotland figures for the Highlands reveal a jump in fraud cases, but an overall fall in crime across the region

FRAUD has jumped sharply in the Highlands despite an overall fall in crime in the region, new figures from Police Scotland have revealed.

There were 402 incidents of fraud across the Highlands and Islands in the third quarter of the year – up from 244 in the same period the previous year.

Nationally, fraud also continues to "be a concern", the force said.

Police Scotland was commenting after the latest crime figures were revealed across Scotland.

They showed that as well as falling crime figures in the Highlands, crime detection rates have increased by nearly give per cent. In particular, the Highland Division recorded one of the highest drugs crime detection rates in Scotland at 100%. Meanwhile crimes within numerous groups have fallen including serious assaults, sexual offences and acquisitive crime.

Alongside Police Scotland’s ongoing support to combat the spread of coronavirus, operations to tackle issues such as drug misuse, anti-social behaviour and road traffic offences have also continued to be launched throughout the past year. In particular, Operation Ruling was launched in Caithness at the end of 2020 resulting in the recovery of various quantities and values of drugs, as well as numerous arrests and reports for a range of offences.

Divisional Commander Chief Superintendent Conrad Trickett said: “The figures contained within today’s report are to be welcomed, however I must stress once again that they have been recorded during an unprecedented time and it could be many years before we understand the full impact of coronavirus on policing and crime generally.

"Let me provide every reassurance though that Highlands & Islands Division remains committed to supporting the people we serve, listening to you and acting on your concerns.”

Nationally there were large increases in incidents of public nuisance (up 117.8 per cent), neighbour disputes (43.1 per cent) and noise complaints (18.5 per cent) – although these were believed to be at least partly due to the Covid pandemic's impact.

Related news: Pandemic drove sharp rise in anti-social behaviour