Almost one murder a month in 2012 was committed by someone on bail

Almost one murder every month was committed by a person released on bail, according to latest figures.

The figures released to Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan following in a parliamentary question, show that almost 22,000 crimes were committed by people on bail last year — ranging from murder and rape to a range of petty crimes.

These include 11 murders, 29 murder threats, six rapes and 10 sexual assaults.

The figures show that a total of 21,999 crimes were committed by those out on bail in 2012 — down from 24,481 in 2011 and 29,564 in 2008.

In terms of the most serious crime, the statistic of 11 murders is up from eight murders in 2011 and six murders in 2010.

A total of six rapes were carried out by people on bail, down from the 10 rapes committed in 2010. However the number of defilements of people aged under the age of 17 by those on bail were up from two to four between 2011 and last year.

Some 1,585 non-aggravated burglaries were carried out by those on bail last year, while the number of aggravated burglaries came to 38. Both these figures are down from the previous year in 2011, where 1,675 non-aggravated burglaries and 52 aggravated burglaries were carried out by those on bail.

Just under 240 assaults causing harm and poisonings were committed by people on bail in 2012, down from 309 in 2011. A total of 367 “other” assaults were carried out last year, down from 405 in 2011.

Robberies carried out on people by people on bail rose from 256 in 2011 to 284 last year. Thefts from shops increased from 2,581 in 2011 to 2,621 last year.

The number of “other” thefts, including handling stolen property carried out by people out on bail came to 1,777 last year, a slight decrease on the figure of 1,855 for 2011.