Southern region sees largest increase in fraud and kidnapping in State

THE South of Ireland has seen the biggest yearly increases in crimes involving fraud and kidnapping, according to the latest crime statistics.

Data on the crimes recorded by An Garda Síochána in the first quarter of the year were published yesterday by the CSO. They show that while most crimes are on the increase in most areas, the Southern region (Cork, Kerry, and Limerick) is seeing significant increases in certain offences far beyond the national average.

In the region, fraud offences have more than doubled, up by 118.1% since last year, the largest regional increase in the country.

Nationally, fraud offences are up 88%, largely driven by unauthorised transactions and attempts to obtain personal or banking information online or by phone.

The South also saw the largest uptick in kidnapping-related offences, up 86.4% compared to last year. This is far above the next largest increase of 51.2% in the Dublin metropolitan region.

Crimes involving damage to property and the environment are also increasing most in the Southern region, up 9.1% on the same time last year. This compares to an increase of 6.1% in the Dublin metropolitan region, 5.1% in the East, and 1.7% in the North-West.

The south has also seen a notable rise in sexual offences (+26.4%), robbery (+28.3%), and assaults (+21.7%).

Offences falling

Nationally, offences fell across only three of 15 crime categories: homicides and related offences, controlled drug offences, and weapons and explosives offences.

The South saw the most dramatic fall in homicides and related crimes, down 64.7% on the same time last year. Reductions in all other regions were just below 30%.

On top of reductions in these three categories, the south also saw a slight decrease in offences relating to organised crime and other offences against the Government and justice system.

Levels of organised crime and related offences fell by 0.9% in the southern region, contrasting with an overall national increase of 24.4%.