Clydebank and the surrounding communities have more than 100 registered sex offenders living among them.

Figures released by Police Scotland revealed that 127 residents within the local area have been subject to a court-ordered Sex Offender Notification Requirement due to an offence under the Sexual Offence Act 2003.

The cops define a Registered Sex Offender as someone “who has received a conviction or finding, in respect of a specified sexual offence under Schedule 3 the Sexual Offences Act 2003, is subject to the Sex Offender Notification Requirements (SONR) and referred to as a Registered Sex Offender (RSO)”.

Those on the register must attend a prescribed police station for an interview every 12 months.

The police stats highlighted the G81 postcode – which covers central Clydebank – has the most offenders listed on the register across the whole of Greater Glasgow, with 46 registered.

The G13 area – which covers parts of Knightswood, Yoker and Blairdardie – has 44 registered sex offenders listed as having an address within it.

Neighbouring G14 has 15 people listed on the register with Drumchapel’s G15 having 16 members of the register. Elsewhere, G60 – consisting of Bowling and Old Kilpatrick – has six.

Overall, Police Scotland’s numbers say there are 995 sex offenders currently on the register under the G postcode area.

But cops say the number of registered sex offenders has declined overall from 1,006 in March to the current number recorded at the end of August.

A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: “Police Scotland, working with our MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements) partners, manage registered sex offenders (RSOs) across all of Scotland’s communities.

“Every single offender is assessed and managed in line with the risk they present. 

“Sexual re-offending rates of RSOs remain very low.

“While we can never completely eliminate risk, Police Scotland and MAPPA partners use robust risk assessment processes, and a range of investigative tools including the latest technologies, to manage RSOs, mitigate risk and to protect the public.”

Police Scotland publishes data regarding the number of registered sex offenders in communities on a monthly basis, broken down by policing division and postcode area. 
The work is done as part of efforts to demonstrate transparency.

A Scottish Crime and Justice Survey from 2019/2020 reported that 5,240 women in Scotland were victims of a serious sexual assault.

And women’s help charity Women’s Aid believe the number of people on the sexual offenders register in Clydebank is likely to be much more than 127.

In response, a spokesperson said: “Whilst we are not surprised at the numbers of sex offenders living in Clydebank and the wider area, we must be aware that these figures will be greatly underestimated as the very nature of this crime is hidden. 

“Sexual abuse is under-reported, meaning most women who experience sexual abuse do not contact the police and when they do report sexual abuse, it is under-prosecuted. 

“Furthermore, it is a commonly held belief that those on the sex offenders register stay on the sex offenders register indefinitely, but this is not necessarily the case – as such, we cannot accurately capture the true figure of sex offenders living in our communities until such time that violence against women is eliminated.”

A spokesperson for West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership said: “All registered sex offenders are regularly assessed to ensure that individual supervision reflects the level of risk.”

*Data will not be published for a small number of postcode areas where the population of the area in question is particularly low and it is assessed that publication would lead to individuals being identified.