200% increase in robbery offences in Louth so far in 2019

There was a 200 percent increase in recorded incidents of robbery, extortion and hijacking offences in the first quarter of this year in the Louth Garda Division, according to Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures released yesterday (Monday).

This includes eight incidents of ‘robbery of an establishment or institution’ were recorded in the first three months of the year, compared with three for the same period in 2018; and 12 incidents of robbery from the person, compared with four in quarter one in 2018.

Reported incidents of murder-threats increased by 64 percent in Louth from January to March this year so far. 18 incidents were reported in Q1 of 2019, compared with 11 in 2018.

There was a 50 percent increase in the category titled 'offences while in custody, breach of court orders' in the first three months of 2019. 84 such incidents were recorded in the Louth Division from January to March 2019 compared with 56 for the same period in 2018.

While the overall change in incidents of 'theft and related offences' in the Louth Division suggests just a two percent increase, when this is looked at in more detail, it can be seen that a decrease of 14 percent in ‘other thefts, handling stolen property’ is being offset by an increase of 20 percent in incidents of 'theft from shop'. One category that saw a large increase of reported incidents in the first quarter of 2019, was 'Controlled Drug Offences'.

193 incidents of controlled drug offences were recorded in the Louth Garda Division, compared with 109 in the first three months of 2018, representing a 77 percent increase. Five incidents of ‘cultivation or manufacture of drugs’ were recordedthis year, compared with just one in the period January to March 2018, representing a 400 percent increase.

32 incidents of ‘possession of drugs for sale or supply’ were recorded, in contrast to 16 last year, representing a 100 percent increase. There was also a 64 percent increase in incidents of ‘possession of drugs for personal use’ and a 300 percent increase in other drug offences, with eight being recorded in the first three months of this year, compared with two for the same period in 2018.

While there has been an increase in a number of offences in Louth, there has also been a welcome decrease in some areas.
Sexual offences in the Louth Division fell by 26 percent in Q1 compared with the same period last year.

23 incidents of rape and sexual assault were recorded in the county from January to March, compared with 30 in in the first three months of 2018. Two 'other sexual offences' were also recorded in Q1 this year, compared with four in Q1 2018.

It is important to note however, that these statistics are categorised as Under Reservation by the CSO. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by the CSO. This is as a result of a Garda Inspectorate report in 2014, identifying quality issues in relation to the recording of data on the PULSE system.

The decision to publish using the statistics Under Reservation category reflects concerns the CSO has around the completeness and accuracy of PULSE data.

Data published under this category will provide users with the best information available while clearly identifying the quality issues and flagging where revisions are likely.