Teen gangs blamed as break-ins rise 64%

ORGANISED teen gangs made up of boys as young as 13 years old have been responsible for a massive upsurge in house break-ins in Limerick.

Figures produced at a meeting of the city’s joint policing committee show that in the period December 2010 to February 2011, there was a 64% increase in burglaries.

Gardaí had to deal with 278 house break-ins during that period compared to 170 for the same period 12 months previously.

During the month of February alone, a total of 37 people were arrested in Limerick on suspicion of having been involved in house burglaries.

And in the latest swoop, three males were arrested yesterday in the city and are being held in connection with an aggravated burglary at a city centre apartment in which the occupant was attacked and a number of laptops and cash was taken.

Chief Superintendent David Sheahan said gardaí have had to cope with a challenging period due to the level of house breaks-ins since the start of the year.

“In the main the problem has been caused by two or three groupings of young people, who have literally run riot around the city and break into houses for no other reason than to take keys of cars and then steal the cars.”

He appealed to home owners, who park their cars outside, to keep car keys in their bedrooms.

Due to the number of recent arrests, however, there had been a decrease in these type of break-ins.

In a number of burglaries sliding patio doors were removed to gain entry.

Stolen cars are used by the youth gangs to carry out other crime and for joyriding trips.

Figures given to the joint policing committee showed a 100% increase in menacing phone calls which rose from six to 12.

And incidents of drink driving over the Christmas period fell by a quarter.

There were 71 arrests between December and February, compared to 95 for the corresponding period 12 months previously.