Domestic violence conviction rate less than 10%

LESS than one in 10 incidents of domestic violence resulted in a conviction last year, garda figures show.

There were 651 convictions for domestic violence in 2002, compared to 1,286 in 2001, a drop of 49%, according to the Garda Annual Report.

The dramatic fall was recorded despite a rise in the number of reported incidents up from 9,983 in 2001 to 10,248 in 2002, an. That breaks down to on average of 28 incidents every day last year.