Youth gangs have been warned they could die after scenes of “chilling” violence erupted between Scots kids.
It comes as a teenager was “slashed in the face” in Fife – days after he shared a video of himself wielding a kitchen knife.
In the alarming clip, shared on social media last week, the boy is heard challenging his rivals to “come ahead” as he swings the terrifying blue blade in front of the camera.
Clutching the blade in front of his face, he said: “If anyone wants to chat, come and deal with it, I swear.” It is understood that the youth has since been left with serious facial injuries after a revenge attack in Methil on Saturday night.
A video of the incident shows the boy being beaten to the ground by a group of teenage males. The sickening scene shows the youngster suffer several blows to his head and body as he begs his attackers to stop.
The attacker can be heard saying: “What happened to you stabbing me? Stab me then, where’s your f***ing knife then?
“I’ll f***ing kill you. Say sorry.”
The boy replies: “Please, please stop, because you are killing me”.
In a separate clip, the boy is seen cowering topless on the ground as his attacker pushes him around and tells him: “You’re a f***ing sh***bag of a boy.”
The disturbing scenes, which have gone viral on social media, have taken place amid the Record’s Our Kids … Our Future campaign which was launched two years ago in response to an epidemic of youth violence in Scotland. As part of the campaign, we have repeatedly called on the Scottish Government to invest in safe spaces for young people to attend in every community, where they can be mentored, guided and kept away from harm.
We have also demanded social media giants to introduce new measures to prevent violent clips of teens from going viral on online platforms.
Reacting to the footage, MSP for north east Fife Willie Rennie said: “The spiral of senseless violence in Fife and across the country is chilling. The message to those engaging in the violence is: you could be the next victim, the injuries will be with you for the rest of your life and you could die.
“We all need to do our bit to warn of the dangers of such behaviour and that includes families and the police. And the danger is that someone will die unless we wake up.”
Earlier this month, the Record told how a 14-year-old boy was found in possession of a gun following a disturbance on a Fife street. The firearm was removed from the teen after a stop-and-search operation by police in September last year.
Locals say feuds between youths have become “rife” in the region.
One mum, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “There’s a young team turf war going on between Cowdenbeath and Methil right now. Two groups are fighting with each other over their patches and who is seen to be “harder” than the other.
“The fighting is rife, it’s getting out of control and nothing seems to be getting done about it. They’re posing for photos with knives boasting about how “hard” they are.
“It’s completely mindless. People are locking their kids indoors at night because it’s no longer safe to be letting them out.”
The Record has reported on a catalogue of horrific attacks on teens in the area as part of the Our Kids … Our Future campaign. In January last year, we told how a disabled Raith Rovers fan was battered in a vicious attack at rivals’ Dunfermline Athletic’s East End Park.
Kieren Ross, then 18, was brutally beaten by the gang as he waited for a bus home. Ex-soldier Mackenzie King, 21, and Callum Beautyman, 18, were convicted for the assaults last month.
King, of Oakley, was given 240 hours of unpaid work while Beautyman, of Kelty, was handed an eight-month Restriction of Liberty Order, which means he will be electronically tagged to enforce a night-time curfew.
Elsewhere, schoolgirl Kaylynn Donald was left requiring mental health support after she was savagely battered on a school bus on her way home from Ladybank in October 2022. The then 12-year-old was left with bruises, scratches across her body and a bloody eye.
And in Kirkcaldy, a teenage girl was booted unconscious outside a school by another pupil as an adult woman cheered her attacker on. Footage from the incident in March 2023 shows the victim lying on the ground while her attacker punches and kicks her as a crowd of pupils film the scene on their phones.
A woman, understood to be a relative of the attacker, can be seen and heard instructing the culprit to carry out the abuse.
Local Labour MP Richard Baker said: “Action needs to be taken to avoid these incidents being repeated or even escalating, and an attack involving a knife is particularly worrying – there’s a real risk of someone being killed, even by accident. That’s a risk which is terrifying. This is why we need tough action on knives and why the UK Government is bringing in new laws to crackdown on dangerous online knife sales.
“This alone won’t solve the problem, nor will the justice system. Some young people are disengaged from society, with cases like this clearly showing they think they’re a law unto themselves. Early intervention is important, as is raising awareness in schools, but in my conversations with police they say the best results come through community-led initiatives giving young people a positive alternative.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Officers have been made aware of a possible assault in Cowdenbeath which happened on Saturday, 22 February. Inquiries are ongoing