EIGHT West Dunbartonshire pupils – four of them as young as 12 years-old – have been caught carrying lethal weapons within school in the past four years.

In a special exclusive investigation by the Reporter, we can reveal that the oldest of the eight armed kids was just 14 years of age.

The revelations show that in the past four years schoolchildren in the area have armed themselves at school with a steak knife, a belt, a metal bar, two pen knives, scissors, another type of knife and an unnamed weapon.

The dramatic revelations come just a year after Daniel Stroud was jailed for the culpable homicide of 16-year-old schoolboy Bailey Gwynne at Cults Academy in Aberdeenshire.

The fifth-year pupils squared up in March 2016 when someone called Bailey’s mum “fat” and, as they wrestled, Stroud pulled a knife and plunged it into Bailey’s heart.

Stroud had bought the 8.5cm folding knife for £40 from Amazon and had it delivered to his home.

Five of the eight offences in West Dunbartonshire, we can reveal, happened in 2016.

In a series of questions sent to Police Scotland under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, the police refused to name the exact West Dunbartonshire schools where children were found armed.

A police spokesman said: “Keeping People Safe is at the heart of everything that we do but this is entirely reliant on building good relationships with the communities we serve and encouraging schools to make us aware of the issues in their area.

“As such, a higher number of incidents at one school cannot necessarily be taken to mean that the location is any way less safe than that of another school.

“It could simply mean that the management team and staff at one location are far more willing to engage with the police to attempt to deal with criminal behaviour and other matters of concern whereas at other schools, the same issues may be present but the staff are less inclined for whatever reason to contact the police.

“What we simply cannot afford to do is discourage people from reporting incidents to the police for fear that the resulting information will be used to create a negative impression of that location or a ‘league table’ of sorts offering up comparisons.”

Police Scotland told the Reporter that four 12-year-olds, three 13-year-olds and one child aged 14, were all caught in the past four years carrying weapons within their school. Their figures were from 2014 until February 16, 2018.

From April 1, 2017, a set of new codes was introduced to record cases of using an offensive weapon in a public setting to commit other criminal activity.

A Police Scotland spokesman revealed that four of the offenders were dealt with by “early and effective intervention” and three were reported to the Children’s Panel.

The other, although classed as a juvenile, as a result of joint consultation, merited the attention of the procurator fiscal in Dumbarton, as well as the Children’s Panel.

In 2014, 2015, and 2017 there was just one offender in each of those three years, with the other five offences all happening in 2016.

The spokesman added: “Whilst there is a public interest in advising the public as to the levels of criminality. In the particular areas where they live, work and visit, there is no parallel interest in damaging the relationship between Police Scotland and the communities we serve.

“Furthermore, there may be particular circumstances in one school which could lead to, in the absence of specialist knowledge as to the circumstances, an entirely unfair perception as to the level of police interaction.”

A spokesman for West Dunbartonshire Council said: “We work closely with police to protect and educate pupils about the potentially devastating consequences of carrying a knife, and have dedicated youth engagement officers working across our secondary schools.

“We have over 12,000 pupils in our schools and while the number of reports is low by comparison, we view any incident as serious and will take appropriate action against anyone who brings a weapon into any of our schools.”