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Sunday, 18 September 2005, 13:15 GMT 14:15 UK

Scotland has been named the most violent country in the developed world by a United Nations report.

The study found that, excluding murder, Scots were almost three times as likely to be assaulted as Americans.

Victims of crime in 21 countries were interviewed by the UN, but senior Scots police officers criticised the study.

The survey concluded that 2,000 Scots were attacked every week. That figure is 10 times the number recorded in official police figures.

The results showed Scotland was more violent than either England or Wales.

The figure for Scotland dwarves that of other developed nations such as Japan, where people are 30 times less likely to be attacked.

A statement from the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland said: "The general picture of Scotland around the world is not one of a violent country."

From the BBC News

can't argue with the findings

its a violent country, especially when your in your teens

It was always violent, in my youth the use of a knife or razor was common. I has an argument with a blade when I was 19 and had 87 stitches in my face as a result.

87? That must of been agonising. Are you OK now?

After 20 or so years most of the scars had vanished Jezi. The cut was not painfull but the healing process was, I kept wanting to scratch it

The surgeon who sorted me out was BRILLIANT and I still see her now and again

Must of been horrid. I fell off the back of an arm chair and hit the very corner of my eye off of the corner of a wooden chair at my Gran's house and I found a cut that only needed 3 steristrips bad enough I was only 6 or something though.

That's bloody awful Jim! I've never heard of anyone having so many stictches! 87! It sickens me that someone could do that to another human being. I'm glad you're ok now. I can't imagine it tbh.

I live in a violent area too but they tend to use guns. We've had so many people shot and killed in the last few years that it seems to happen every other month now. I certainly wouldn't want to raise children in this environment.

Good grief Jim...thats awful

But it was pretty violent in my teens.The shops used to have metal grills outside and the centre of the village(yes village!!) was a no go area at night because rival gangs would be roaming the streets.We basically had 2 schemes that would regularly fight with knives involved.....it was pretty horrendous

That all sounds horrible.

Obviously our town isn't perfect but it's not actually bad at all in lots of respects. I've often gone out and left the door unlocked (that's more forgetfulness to be honest ) but we've never had a break in. Where I used to live our house was broken into while we were on holiday and all they took was an old video player Don't know why but anyway...! Oh and the car was nicked in the Scottish town where all my family lived but it was just like young people who took it to the beach and the police tracked it the next day. It was supposed to be the day we were coming home so I got an extra day with family