Cork crime: Homeless people account for a quarter of jail terms, new 'Irish Examiner' study reveals

Research project confirms that theft, assault, and drug offences are the crimes that city courts most often deal with

Theft, assault, public order, and drugs offences were the most mentioned offences in Cork City courts.

Homeless people got almost a quarter of the jail sentences handed down in Cork city over five years, new research by the 'Irish Examiner' has found.

Theft, assault, public order, or drugs offences were the most mentioned offences in the city courts, with men accounting for 87% of all the jail terms. Their sentences were on average twice as long as those imposed on women, the data shows.

Men accounted for 87% of all jail sentences handed down in Cork courts in the five-year period we studied. 

People living on the northside of the city got, on average, a longer jail term than those with an address on the southside; addiction or substance abuse were involved in almost three quarters of the cases analysed; and seven northside suburbs were in the top 10 for the number of jail terms imposed.

These suburbs are in parts of the city classed as ‘disadvantaged’ or ‘very disadvantaged’ in the 2022 Pobal deprivation index, with higher rates of unemployment and lone parenting, and lower rates of school completion and third-level participation.

These are among the main findings from a vast new analysis of more than 5,000 court cases from the Cork city courts published in the Irish Examiner or The Echo between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2024.

From Monday, June 23, 2025, the three-day Cork Crime series is running in the 'Irish Examiner' in print and online here. 

The reports covered a range of crime categories, from murder, rape, assault, and serious drugs cases in the higher courts, to burglary, theft, fraud, public order, and road traffic offences in the district court.

Theft was mentioned in a third of all the Cork court cases analysed, with an average sentence of just over 11 months.

A total of 1,415 cases were identified in which jail terms were imposed, and they were subjected to detailed analysis, providing the most detailed insight yet into who is being jailed and why. The findings show:

• Men accounted for 1,232 or 87% of the jail terms;
• Almost half of those jailed were homeless or had an address on the city’s northside;
• Gurranabraher, Mayfield, Knocknaheeny, and Blackpool accounted for the most jail terms imposed, with Mahon on the southside completing the top five;
• The Glen, Ballincollig, Fairhill, the city centre, and Farranree completed the top 10:
• The main offences mentioned were theft, assault, public order, or drugs offences which, combined, were mentioned in 72% of all jail sentence cases analysed;
• The average age of the person sent to jail was 34;
• Their average sentence was 22 months, with women jailed for an average of 11 months, and men for 23.4 months;
• Almost 60% of those jailed had at least one previous conviction;
• Addiction, alcohol, or drugs were mentioned in 72% of cases, with drugs alone mentioned in 41% of cases, and alcohol alone mentioned in 38%;
• Addiction was a problem city-wide.

The data shows the top four crime categories for which people were jailed were theft, assault, public order, and drugs for sale or supply offences.

Theft ranked highest, and was mentioned in a third of all the cases analysed, with an average sentence of just over 11 months, and addiction mentioned in 58% of the cases.

Assault was next, and was mentioned in over a fifth of all the jail terms, with an average sentence of 26.3 months imposed. Addiction was involved in 57% of such cases, with alcohol the sole issue in just over half of them.

Public order was third. It was mentioned in 17% of the cases analysed, with an average seven-month sentence handed down, and addiction involved in 67% of cases, with alcohol the main issue.

Drugs for sale or supply was mentioned in just over 10% of the jail terms, with an average jail term of 36.6 months, with addiction involved in 64% of the cases, and addiction to drugs alone an issue in all of those cases.

The data also shows that addiction was mentioned in more than half of all the jail cases city-wide, with drugs and alcohol a problem on both sides of the river.