Drop of 64% in offence rate by youths in scheme

THE crime rate among young offenders – some of whom had 35 convictions – plummeted by 64% under a new Garda scheme being rolled out across the country.

The scheme, which sees each young offender case managed by an individual garda, resulted in the number of charges racked up by 16 young people fall from 219 to 80 in a nine-month period.

The programme was operated in the Dublin Metropolitan North Central Division and was so successful that it has been extended there to include adults and sex offenders.