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SWORD FRIGHT
Shocking film of gang battle in Scots car park
By Magnus Gardham
TWO gangs fight a pitched battle with swords and machetes - but this isn't a martial arts movie, it's real-life Scotland in 2006.
The shocking CCTV film shows a dozen armed men - whose weapons included samurai swords - battling it out earlier this year.
Police released the pictures as they welcomed a new crackdown on Scotland's deadly blade culture.
Under Executive plans, there will be a near total ban on the sale of swords. Shops will have to be licensed to sell any non-domestic knives.
Police chiefs reinforced the need for the measures by showing the terrifying footage.
Filmed at a Glasgow car park late at night on April 28, it shows two gangs of hooded men squaring up to each other, brandishing vicious weapons including swords and giant machetes.
Blows are exchanged but then a number of men run to a Ford Focus and flee the scene before police arrive.
Cops said they were not aware of any injuries and nobody was ever arrested over the incident.
Detective Chief Inspector John Carnochan, head of St rathclyde Police violence reduction unit, said it showed the scale of Scotland's blade culture.
He said: "Far too many people, particularly young men, view the carrying of knives as acceptable. We need to get the message over this is absolutely unacceptable in 21st century Scotland.
"Clearly, a licensing scheme on its own won't solve the deep-rooted culture of violence which is prevalent in parts of Scotland. But it will have an impact."
Sales of swords will be banned for all but "religious, cultural and sporting" purposes.
Shops will have to take the names and addresses of customers buying hunting knives, meat cleavers and other non-domestic blades. Unlicensed retailers caught selling knives will face jail.
The scheme - to come into force next year- will be policed by trading standards officers.
Other anti-blade measures come into force on September 1. They include tougher sentences for possession and raising the minimum age for buying a knife from 16 to 18.
Last year, 72 people died from stab wounds in Scotland. But there were 1300 reported blade attacks in Strathclyde alone, most in public places and most committed using a lock-knife.
Police believe twice as many more are going unreported.
A&E doctors at Glasgow Royal Infirmary treat two or three blade wounds daily on average. Two or three a week are life-threatening.
Consultant Rudy Crawford said: "I think the crackdown will have an effect.
"But we also need to get the message across to people that it is not just police and politicians who have a responsibility here.
"It is all of us in society. We should not allow our sons or friends to go out carrying weapons."
The moves were officially announced by Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson during a visit to London Road police station in Glasgow.
She said: "It is simply far too easy for these weapons to be bought and sold. I'm confident we can drive down knife crime, keep it down and break its grip on Scotland once and for all."
