I've been arguing in these pages for months now about the anti-social abuse of e-bikes and off-road motorbikes and only days after last week's column on the subject we have had a serious incident in which it was only by luck that someone wasn't killed.
A 15-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man were struck by a quadbike in a hit-and-run near the Jack Kane Centre in Niddrie on Saturday night and something like this was bound to happen sooner or later because of the the totally reckless way off-road bikes are ridden.
The riders revel in bringing fear and alarm to other park and road users and no doubt derive a weird pleasure from churning up grassed areas to deprive others of their enjoyment.
Their bravado is also a result of knowing the police aren't equipped to chase fast-moving bikes and are limited to pursuit by patrol cars on the road. And they know there aren't many officers. Intelligence passed on by groups like the Stolen Motorcycles Edinburgh Group is often not followed up.
It comes down to a very simple fact, that there are not enough officers to do the job and the public expects of them and the responsibility lies squarely with the SNP Scottish Government which has decided to spend the resources Police Scotland needs on other priorities.
Underfunding the police is a political choice and the SNP needs to own it.
