One crime was recorded nearly every minute in Scotland as offending surged to its highest level in four years, new figures reveal.

Rape, violence and shoplifting have risen sharply while murders and culpable homicides have soared by 40 per cent.

Police recorded 513,866 crimes in the year to June 2026, up from 487,674 in the previous 12-month period.

The rise comes amid turmoil in the highest ranks of Police Scotland amid reports that power struggles have turned the executive team into ‘Game of Thrones on steroids’.

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Stephen Kerr said the Scottish Government figures are ‘utterly disgraceful’.

He said: ‘The SNP have weakened deterrence, piled pressure on to our police and repeatedly put the interests of offenders ahead of victims.

‘This is what nearly two decades of SNP failure on justice looks like: rising crime, weaker sentences and a justice system that criminals can increasingly take advantage of.’

Sexual crimes rose 9 per cent from 15,129 to 16,560 in the past year, including an 8 per cent increase in rape and attempted rape from 3,004 to 3,240 cases – up by almost a third on 2,455 in 2022.

Police recorded 513,866 crimes in the year to June 2026, up from 487,674 in the previous 12-month period

Non-sexual violent crime rose 7 per cent from 71,915 to 77,005, while crimes of dishonesty including housebreaking, shoplifting and fraud climbed by 10 per cent from 112,421 to 123,906.

Shoplifting soared 20 per cent year-on-year from 47,381 to 56,920 in the past year and has more than doubled, rising by 129 per cent since 2022 from 24,877 to 56,920.

Murder and culpable homicide increased 40 per cent from 35 to 49 cases, or nearly one per week, between 2025 and 2026.

Domestic abuse crimes recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act rose by 19 per cent in the past 12 months, from 2,742 to 3,264.

Fraud increased by 7 per cent compared to the previous year, from 15,121 to 16,183.

The total of 513,866 crimes was the highest in the figures provided by the Scottish Government, which date back to 2022.

The figures include a category of crime known as ‘offences’ which are deemed to be more minor such as threatening and abusive behaviour – there were 190,335 offences in the past year.

The rest of the 513,866 are labelled as ‘crimes’ and include murder and rape.

Alev Taylor, chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, said the country ‘continues to let down survivors’, citing ‘increasing levels of rape and sexual violence, unacceptable wait times in the criminal justice process, and desperately underfunded support’.

She added: ‘There is a lack of investment in prevention and tackling the root causes of sexual violence, however there is also a failure to address the situation we’re in right now.

‘Increasing numbers of survivors are unable to access the support they need when they need it, and this cannot go on any longer.

‘As reported sexual offences continue to rise, services which support survivors navigating the criminal justice system are struggling to meet the demand.’

Scottish Labour justice spokesman Pauline McNeill said the justice system was ‘at breaking point’.

She said: ‘There must be an end to the SNP’s soft-touch approach to justice and a boost to visible community policing.

‘We also need action to tackle the root causes of the epidemic of violence against women, including working with boys and young men to confront violent and misogynistic attitudes.’

Scottish Labour justice spokesman Pauline McNeill said the justice system was ‘at breaking point’

Ewan MacDonald-Russell, deputy head of the Scottish Retail Consortium, urged the Government to increase funding for the retail crime taskforce to ‘stem and reverse’ the issue.

Earlier this week, the Mail revealed Scotland’s police chief was told she had ‘lost the dressing room’ in a showdown with a senior colleague.

Assistant Chief Constable Wendy Middleton told her boss, Jo Farrell, that ‘no one had confidence in her leadership’.

She also voiced concern about a lack of transparency at Police Scotland following a string of controversies.

Justice Secretary Neil Gray insisted Scotland ‘remains a safe place to live’, highlighting that recorded crime had fallen by almost half since its peak in 1991.

He said: ‘While Scotland remains a safe place to live and recorded crime has fallen by almost half since its peak in 1991, I am extremely concerned by the rise in sexual crimes and domestic abuse offences recorded under the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018.

‘These are abhorrent crimes and, unfortunately, reflect a broader pattern seen across the UK.

‘It is encouraging that more victims feel able to come forward and report offences, including historical crimes.’