Gardaí blame assaults increase on people ‘with more money to spend’

Galway City Tribune – Big increases in minor assaults and theft from vehicles in Galway City were the major blots on an otherwise positive Garda report for the first five months of the year.

Overall, crime across the city has plummeted by 40% compared to the same time last year, with 773 crimes reported between January and May, compared to 1,296 incidents in May 2017.

Minor assaults had jumped 58% – from 80 to 126 – while serious assaults where injuries were recorded went up by 9% to 37 cases. Theft from vehicles were up over a third – from 50 to 67 – and shoplifting was up by 10% to 250 incidents over the five months.

Public order offences were down 7% to 243, according to the figures presented to this week’s City Joint Policing Committee meeting.

There were 75 people detected for drunk driving, which marked no change. In the same period there was a 40% decrease in the number of alcohol checkpoints.

Incidents of motorists detected speeding were down by over a third to 789 and those caught driving without insurance was down by over a half to 74.

Chief Superintendent Tom Curley admitted there has been a problem with minor assaults in the city centre, mainly occurring at night time and across many locations. He said they were up because there was more money around to spend.

He said the Gardaí had deployed extra resources in a bid to reduce the incidents.
To read more on the Garda statistics, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week’s paper here, or download the app for Android or iPhone.