Falls in homicide and sexual offences – CSO
Recorded-crime figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show falls in homicides and sexual offences in the 12 months to the end of March compared with the same period a year earlier.
Overall, the CSO said that incidents fell in six of the 15 categories of crime over the period, with small increases in many other categories.
There was a 6% increase in dangerous or negligent acts – mainly due to speeding and dangerous driving. Offences linked to weapons or explosives also increased by 6%.
Homicide offences recorded the biggest drop (27%), followed by sexual offences (15%), and burglary (9%).
The CSO report indicated a 3% increase in fraud incidents, though this excludes data reported by financial institutions.
Assault victims
The CSO figures also show that the number of victims of offences covering attempts or threats to murder, assaults, harassments, and related offences in the first quarter (Q1) of this year increased across most age groups.
While the number of male victims rose by just 1% compared with a year earlier to 3,334, the number of female victims increased by 8% to 2,460.
The number of female victims in all age groups increased, with a 19% jump in victims who were under 18 at the time of the incident.
The total number of assault victims increased by 4% to 5,794.