Sex assaults and drug crimes on the rise in Cork

Chief Superintendent Barry McPolin said the use of drugs hadn't slowed down during the pandemic and a lot of resources were put into clamping down on it. File picture: Gardaí

Sexual assaults and drug crimes were up in Cork City and county in the first eight months of this year compared to the same period in 2020.

While most other crimes were down, gardaí believe the main reason for the increase in sex crimes is due to an easing of Covid-19 lockdown measures, while they've put a significant effort across the three Cork Garda divisions into cracking down on drugs.