Homicides And Assaults Increase In First Half Of 2007

New Figures Show 19 Murders Or Manslaughters In Second Quarter

There were 19 instances of Murder or Manslaughter recorded by the Gardaí in the second quarter of 2007.

This is an increase of three from the corresponding period of 2006.

In the 12-month period ending in the second quarter, the number of Murders and Manslaughters was 68, an increase of 3 over the previous 12-month period.

There was also an increase in the number of Murder attempts and threats, from 18 in quarter 2, 2006 to 31 in the same period of 2007.

However, the 12-month total for Murder attempts and threats fell from 121 to 118 between the second quarters of 2006 and 2007.

There were 1,179 offences recorded as Assault in the second quarter of 2007 resulting in a total of 4,861 such offences in the 12-month period. These represent increases of 6.1% and 9.3%, respectively, from the corresponding previous periods.

There were reductions in recorded offences classified as Sexual Offences (12.5%), Thefts (1.2%), Burglaries (12.5%) and Robberies (7.3%) in the 12-month period ending in second quarter, 2007.

In that period there were increases in offences classified under Arson (25.1%), Drugs (30.1%) and Frauds (29.8%).

Other Headline Offences rose by 10.1%.

The total number of Homicide offences rose from 35 to 50 (42.9%) in the second quarter of 2007 when compared with the same period in 2006.

The increase in actual Murder or Manslaughter offences was 18.8% (from 16 to 19).

There was also an increase of 3 (from 65 to 68) in the number of recorded Murders or Manslaughters in the last 12 months.

There was also an increase in all offences which are classified as Assaults.

The largest absolute increases were in Assault causing harm and Harassment and endangerment.

Over that period, Assault causing harm rose from 3,710 to 3,978 incidents, an increase of 268 (7.2%). Incidents of Harassment and endangerment rose from 449 to 549, an increase of 100 (22.3%).

There was a reduction of 12.5% (from 1,895 to 1,658) in Sexual Offences recorded by the Gardaí. In that period, there were reductions in the two largest categories within incidents categorised as Sexual Offences.

There were 905 recorded incidents of Sexual Assault, a decrease of 144 (13.7%).

Over the same periods, instances of recorded rape fell by 70 (from 379 to 309), a decrease of 18.5%.

There were 596 recorded incidents of Arson in the second quarter of 2007, an increase of 61.5% over the corresponding period in 2006.

In the last 12 months the total was 1,927 (an increase of 25.1%).

Reported drug offences continued to increase in the second quarter of 2007 and in the 12-month period.

Overall, recorded drug offences were up by 958 (30.1%).

The largest offence type in this category, Possession of drugs for sale or supply, increased by 762 (28.7%) in those 12 months.

Thefts made up 56% of all headline offences in the 12-month period.

Recorded Thefts were down by 1.2% (from 58,756 to 58,062) in that period. Offences categorised as Burglary accounted for 23,224 (22.4%) of the total of 103,682 headline offences in the 12-month period.

This represents a drop of 3,307 (12.5%) from the previous 12 months.

There were 170 (7.3%) fewer incidents of recorded robbery last year and, within this category, there were decreases in offences of Robbery of an establishment or institution and Robbery of cash or goods in transit.

These reduced by 286 (from 1,139 to 853, a decrease of 25.1%) and by 12 (from 38 to 26, a decrease of 31.6%), respectively.

However, instances of recorded Robbery from the person increased by 128 (from 1,151 to 1,279, an increase of 11.1%).

There were 5,494 recorded fraud incidents in the 12-month period ending in the second quarter of 2007.

This is an increase of 1,262 (29.8%) from the previous 12-month period.

Within the category of Other Headline Offences, the largest absolute change was in recorded instances of Abandoning a child, child neglect and cruelty.

Offences of this type increased by 110 (from 297 to 407, a rise of 37%) in the last 12 months.

Slight reduction in total Headline crime

The annualised totals (i.e. the 12-month running total to the end of a quarter) of Headline crimes stood at 103,682 in quarter 2, 2007.

This is down by 1.1% (from 104,888) from the total at quarter 2, 2006. C