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Behind bars with Scotland's unrepentant knife crime teenagers

They talk about stabbings as though they are simply an occupational hazard, writes Lesley Roberts. Something which happens now and again - no big deal.

The incredibly offhand attitude towards knife crime by inmates at Polmont Young Offenders' Institution will shock readers - but also gives a unique insight into blade culture.

The Sunday Mail was given unprecedented access to the offenders in Polmont serving sentences for vicious blade attacks.

And in a series of chilling interviews they paint a depressing picture of young boys growing up on Scotland's housing schemes.

By sheer fluke, none of them had killed but all had caused permanent disfigurement, ruining the lives of their victims.

Some names have been changed to protect victims.

Michael, 17, Glasgow. Sentence: two years

Michael had plans to join the army before a drunken fight that he can barely remember.

He started carrying a knife when he was 14 and admits to regularly chasing rivals with a blade while still a schoolboy.

He was just 15 and had downed a bottle-and-a-half of Buckfast when he began fighting with a guy from a nearby scheme.

Michael says his victim hit him with a brick. Michael plunged a broken bottle into his face.

Michael had a black eye. His victim is scarred for life.

Full story at the Sunday Mail.