Criminals targeting female tourists

Young female tourists shopping and sightseeing during the day are the main targets of criminals, figures show.

They showed 690 tourists were assisted last year by the Irish Tourist Assistance Service (ITAS), compared to 620 in 2010.

The figures show that the number of violent crimes rose from nine in 2010 to 15 in 2011. These included six assaults, three cases of aggravated theft, three cases of robbery with violence, and one case each of sexual crimes, robbery at gunpoint, and robbery with threat of violence.