Gangs in Cork on a 'shoplifting blitz', says Chief Superintendent

 Chief Superintendent Vincent O'Sullivan said: 'It’s great to see burglaries going down, it’s something we put a lot of work into, but we can’t be complacent.' Picture: Andy Gibson

Shoplifting gangs travelling around Cork on a crime blitz have driven a spike in the number of thefts across the county.

Stealing petrol from forecourts has also increased significantly, Cork County’s Joint Policing Committee revealed, with the same gangs potentially linked to some of these crimes.

Some shoplifting gangs have now been arrested and are before the courts, Chief Superintendent of Cork County, Vincent O’Sullivan said.

“Some come from the cities and some fly into Ireland from abroad,” he said. These gangs have also been involved in fraud, he said.

When stealing from a shop, three to four people from the gang will enter the shop and distract the shopkeeper while another one or two people will steal.

“They’re professional, that’s what they do,” Chief Spt O’Sullivan said. 

During lockdown, they were not able to move around, but now they have been out again on this blitz.

The latest crime statistics for Cork City showed that theft from a shop jumped from 530 incidents in the first five months of last year to 877 in the same period this year.

Theft of other property, the bulk of which can be attributed ‘drive-offs’ from petrol stations, rose from 337 to 352. But, burglary fell from 114 incidents to 93.

In the Cork North garda division, burglary fell from 49 incidents in the first five months of last year to 44 in the same period this year.

But theft from a shop rose from 160 to 211 and theft of other property — the majority of which can be attributed to ‘drive offs’ from petrol stations — jumped from 102 to 177.

In Cork West, burglary fell from 33 to 19; theft from a shop rose from 51 to 64 while theft of other property fell from 62 to 53.

'Concerning' trends

Chief Spt O’Sullivan said that the opening up after covid had an impact on the increase in theft from shops along with the organized shoplifting gangs, which will be dealt with “as stiffly as possible” in the criminal justice system to ensure they get appropriate sentences.

The spike in ‘drive-offs’ is “concerning”, he said, and may also be driven up by the high cost of fuel, he said.

However, burglaries, which had been a concern in Cork County, have decreased.

“It’s great to see burglaries going down, it’s something we put a lot of work into, but we can’t be complacent,” Chief Spt O’Sullivan said.

Cork has also seen a spike in deadly road crashes. Seven people have been killed on the roads of County Cork in the first six months of this year — an increase of two deaths from the same period last year.

Cork has seen more road death in Q2 of this year than it has in any Q2 over the last six years.

Four of the deaths involved pedestrians, three of which occurred in daylight.

Chief Spt O’Sullivan reminded people to slow down, observe speed limits, never drink and drive, never use a mobile phone while driving, and avoid driving while tired.

Driving while intoxicated — which includes drug driving — fell slightly in the Cork City and Cork West divisions but increased in Cork North from 134 to 163 incidents.

Violence and abuse 

Domestic abuse is also a cause for concern, Chief Supt O’Sullivan said. Domestic abuse incidents fell by 2% in Cork City up to June 4 this year when compared to the same period last year. But reports of domestic abuse increased by 10% in Cork North and 9% in Cork West over these periods.

Chief Spt O’Sullivan said that an increase in reports can be seen as positive too, because gardaí are encouraging people suffering these crimes to report them.

While property crime was one of the biggest drivers of crime in Cork in the first five months of this year, many other crimes have remained largely static or fallen.

Assaults causing harm dropped from 130 incidents in the first five months of last year to 85 incidents in Cork City in the same period this year.

In Cork North, assaults causing harm dropped from 74 in the first five months of last year to 63 incidents in the same period this year. In Cork West assaults causing harm also dropped from 28 to 25.

Minor assaults also fell across all three Cork divisions.

Rape of a male or female fell in Cork City from 26 to 20 incidents and the report of these crimes also fell in Cork North from 17 to nine. But in Cork West, they rose to six reports between January and May this year compared to five reports of rape entered in the Garda PULSE system in the same period last year.

Drug offences remained reasonably static when compared to the same period last year, with possession of drugs for sale or supply rising from 86 to 91 in Cork City; staying static at 46 in Cork North, and dropping from 33 to 31 incidents in Cork West.