Fraud Offences Sees Largest Increase In Recorded Crime

Fraud offences saw the biggest increase in the year to June 2019, according to the latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) Recorded Crime report.

According to the report, the number of fraud offences recorded by An Garda Síochána rose by 34.4%; from 5,405 to 7,265 recorded incidents. The report also show that drug offences increased by 16.5%, from 17,304 to 20,153.

The upward trend in reported Sexual offences continued, up by 9.2% on the previous 12-month period to 3,286 incidents in the year to June 2019. The number of incidents of Kidnapping and related offences also rose by 24.

The number of homicides recorded for the 12 months to June 2019 fell by 38 compared with the previous period. Murder incidents fell by 9, with a decrease of 28 in the number of confirmed incidents of Dangerous driving leading to death compared with the previous year. Some care should be taken when interpreting this, as figures for Dangerous driving leading to death are often revised upwards in subsequent time periods as investigations into fatal road traffic collisions conclude.

The figures also reflect a technical revision carried out by An Garda Síochána to correct 156 PULSE records of Dangerous Driving Causing Death for the period 2003-2019 which were identified as having an incorrect reported date. These 156 incidents represent 20% of Dangerous Driving Causing Death incidents in the period 2003-2019. The correction results in some offences being properly reclassified to the time period when the Dangerous Driving Causing Death incident occurred. 

The number of Burglary and related offences decreased by 9.8% in the year to June, from 18,416 to 16,617.