Increase in sexual offences but 50% drop in murders in last 12 months

There has been a near 50% drop in the number of murders over the last 12 months, but both sexual offences and assaults have risen sharply over the same period.

The latest Central Statistics Office figures on crimes reported to gardaí show there was a 35.7% decline in the numbers of homicide offences from 84 in the 12 months to September this year, compared to 54 in the same period to September 2014.

“The decrease in homicides was driven by a 47.4% decrease in murder from 57 to 30,” the CSO said.

Also in that category, manslaughters fell from four to two over the period and cases of dangerous driving leading to death fell from 23 to 22.

However, the CSO recorded significant increases in a number of serious sexual offences.

For example, rape cases rose from 455 to 512 and sexual offences involving a mentally impaired person more than doubled from 9 to 20 cases.

Non-aggravated sexual assaults rose from 1,226 to 1,419.

The CSO groups attempted murder, murder threats, assaults, and harassment cases in one category.

Overall, there was a 13.6% rise. There was a particularly steep rise in the number of murder threats from 344 to 588. Assaults causing harm and poisoning together rose from 3,091 to 3,353, while “other assaults” rose from 9,777 to 11,189.

On a more positive note, there were declines in the number of drink and drug driving cases. The numbers caught driving under the influence of alcohol fell from 6,687 to 6,426, while those driving while high on drugs fell from 261 to 232.

There has also been a significant drop in the number of drug offences. The number of drug importation cases fell from 34 to 21 while “cultivation or manufacture of drugs” cases declined from 348 to 265. There were 3,391 cases of possession of drugs for sale or supply and 10,928 cases of possession for personal use, both broadly similar to the figures for 2014.

While robbery offences were all down — robbery from a person fell from 1,757 to 1,488 — extortion and blackmail more than doubled from 22 cases in 2014 to 46 cases in 2015.

Hijacking of vehicles also rose significantly from 88 to 106 cases.

Burglaries were also up, particularly non-aggravated incidents, which rose from 25,813 in 2014 to 27,494 a year later. Aggravated burglaries were also on the rise from 290 to 307.

Prostitution offences reported to gardaí dropped by 50% from 140 in 2014 to 70 this year, while there was a significant increase fraud and deception offences from 5,139 to 5,490 cases.

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre said the increases in sexual offences were reflective of the number of victims of such crimes that they were accompanying to the sexual assault treatment unit.

“This year we accompanied 33% more than we did in the previous period last year,” said a spokeswoman.

“We don’t know whether this is a rise in the levels of violence or more people are feeling confident in coming forward knowing they will be believed and taken seriously. We are very pleased people are reporting this crime and availing of support by calling 1800 77 8888 which is the national 24-hour helpline. Last year it received 1,948 calls over the Christmas period. This is time of the year where we do see an increase in people availing of the services.”