Call for bail ban for serial burglars and cases taken from lower courts

A leading rural rights group has called for bail to be banned for serial burglars and for those cases to be taken from the lower courts, after the Department of Justice claimed judges do not see the crime as a “serious offence”.

Irish Rural Link chief executive Seamus Boland said the move is necessary after alleging criminals are “laughing” at this country’s lax approach to burglary cases, which sees repeat offenders walk out of jail “within three or six months” or fail to be sentenced at all.

On Thursday, the Department of Justice’s assistant secretary general Jimmy Martin told the cross-party Dáil public accounts committee that “our perception is the judiciary doesn’t view burglary as a serious offence” and that most burglars are charged in the district court, so it’s not a serious issue.

The senior civil servant was quickly reprimanded by the department’s acting secretary general, Noel Waters, who stressed “in no way are we criticising the judiciary, I just want to be clear about that point” due to the fact Government is not allowed to interfere in court proceedings.

However, despite the attempted row-back on the comments, Irish Rural Link chief executive Mr Boland told the Irish Examiner the reality is that serial burglars are not facing as heavy penalties as they should because of an “undue leniency” towards them from judges.

The rural rights campaigner said his group has been “consistent in what we are saying” that the 8.4% surge in burglaries in the past 12 months shows that dangerous people are not facing what victims believe is adequate sentencing.

“Bail should never be given to repeat offenders. We are asking for trouble the way it is now,” Mr Boland said.

“Cases should be progressed at a higher court, which can put down much tougher sentences and send out a message that changes the game. Many of these people are serial offenders — they are in the system and know how it works, and they are laughing at the system. The perception is that there always seems to be undue leniency for offenders — they’re out in three months or six months, or get probation. But people who were robbed are living with the trauma. Some can’t and don’t want to even go back to their house,” he said.

Latest CSO figures show that burglary cases have surged by 8.4% in a year, with half of all Garda divisions witnessing increases of 10% or more.

While some areas have seen reductions, 16 out of 28 Garda divisions nationwide have reported significant rises in cases, with claims that the issues are linked to the Government’s controversial decision to close a series of Garda stations, at a saving of just over €500,000 a year.

On Monday, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald launched Operation Thor, which will increase Garda funds by €5m and consider electronic tagging for criminals. However, Mr Boland said that until the courts issue is adequately addressed, the money and high-profile policy announcements will only “cure the symptoms, not the cause”.