Victim Support said rape conviction rates were a long-standing problem

Statistics released following a parliamentary question showed that just 4.3% of men who were accused of rape were found guilty in Scotland's courts.

There were also more reported rapes in the Scottish capital than in any other city in the country, it has emerged.

Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson also revealed the number of reported attacks had almost doubled in the past decade.

In 2004-5, 130 rapes were reported in Edinburgh, 129 in Glasgow and 32 in Aberdeen.

Edinburgh's record in particular is of great concern Kenny MacAskill SNP justice spokesman

There were 37 rapes reported to police in Dundee and 12 in Stirling.

In 1996-97, 469 rapes were reported, but this rose to 631 in 2001-2.

In 2004-5, there were 900 reported attacks, an increase of 6% on the 845 recorded the previous year.

Paul Fawcett of Victim Support told the Scotsman newspaper the low conviction rate was "a long-standing problem".

He said: "No-one wants to see spurious convictions of innocent people, but there can be difficulties about evidence.

"The victims' first response might not be 'what can I do to preserve the evidence'.

Narrow the gap

"They might look after themselves first, which would compromise the evidence. How can we blame them?"

Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish National Party's justice spokesman, said: "Edinburgh's record in particular is of great concern.

"But across Scotland we need to narrow the gap between the number of rapes reported and the number of convictions secured.