³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

The number of murders and other killings in Scotland is at the lowest level since modern crime recording began, according to Police Scotland.

The show there were 48 recorded victims of homicide in the country last year.

This was five less than figures from the previous year, which was also a new low.

Police Scotland said the figures showed that "Scotland is a safe place to live and work".

Last year there were 47 murders and one case of culpable homicide. This figure is the lowest number in any year since the introduction of modern crime recording standards in the 1970s.

Since the inception of the Police Scotland force, there have been 605 homicides in Scotland.

Deputy Chief Constable Fiona Taylor said: "The performance report underlines that Scotland is a safe place to live and work and, when criticality does arise, Police Scotland responds with high levels of operational competence.

"Each one [murder] is an individual tragedy with unique circumstances and investigative challenges. Securing justice for families and loved ones is a core duty for Police Scotland and important for police legitimacy."

The killing of 33-year-old Anthony Fearns in 2019 is the only murder since Police Scotland was formed in 2013 that remains unsolved, an achievement the force have deemed a continuation of their "extremely high detection rate,". The case remains under investigation.

The annual police performance report also shows that during 2022-23 there has been a reduction in the number of assaults on Police Scotland officers and staff - down 438 (6.2%) to 6,657.

"I welcome the reduction in assaults on our officers and staff which is the lowest number since 2018-19. We will continue to drive work as part of the Your Safety Matters programme, to reduce the impact violence and abuse has on our officers and staff." Ms Taylor said.

The report also shoes that overall crime in Scotland is down by 0.2% from last year, and 4.7% from the five-year mean.

The number of reported domestic crimes and assaults has fallen since last year.

Overall figures for sexual crime are down but the levels of specific crimes such as possession of indecent photos of children, sexual assault and rape of a females over 16 recorded notable increases when compared with the same period last year.

The level of fraud remains high and has been described as a "significant challenge" by police - increasing by 107% on the five-year mean. In 2022-23, 46 crimes of fraud were reported every day - 16,879 throughout the year.

The number of fatalities on Scotland's roads has hiked by 17.0%.