CRIME IN IRELAND AND GOVERNMENT FAILURE TO DEAL WITH IT
Remember that nearly all of the criminal activity depicted here is carried out by habitual criminals who, when caught, only get a 'slap on the wrist' for terrorising whole neighbourhoods and are immediately allowed out to continue as before including intimidating the witnesses who had them arrested in the first place.
There are virtually no consequences for Social Terrorism in Ireland.
Our Great Leader "Shifty" Ahern says that our crime rate is the envy of Europe...
Should we try to catch up?
|
10,000 crimes committed by those who are allowed out on bail...April '06 ...More
This page is just a sample of reported everyday criminal activity.
A team of reporters wouldn't have time to cover it all.
SEE HOW THE WRITING WAS ON THE WALL IN 2003...HERE
Latest Crime Statistics|||
Citizens Information|||
Crime Victims Helpline
40 killings in Limerick since 1997. Will THIS be Limerick in the future?
12 June 2007
Gun crime rise with 1,779 recorded in four years
Scottish tourists hospitalised after ruthless hatchet assault
Woman left with fractured skull after brutal gang broke into couple's camper van
HOW THUGS MAKE A JOKE OF OUR LEGAL SYSTEM
Scenario:
The thug has been arrested and is being 'questioned'.
According to the law, the interview has to be videotaped.
The interviewing officer has to write down every question that he asks and then has to write down the suspect's answers.
Obviously very laborious and gives the suspect plenty of time to consider his replies.
The suspect is entitled to a copy of the videotape and duly takes it to his local pub where he and his cronies have a great laugh seeing him make a joke of the legal system.
In some cases the tape comes in handy if the criminal want's his boss to to be comfortable with the fact that his henchman didn't spill the beans.
WELCOME TO PARADISE FOR CRIMINALS
|
Top judge awaiting McDowell's gangland bail names...
THE CHIEF Justice has yet to receive the names of gangland suspects whom Justice Minister Michael McDowell claimed were released on bail by judges who were too soft on crime.
Following an unprecedented attack on the judiciary by the Tanaiste last December, Chief Justice John Murray wrote to the Department of Justice seeking details of 23 of the 24 associates of slain gangland boss Martin Hyland.
More
Back to Top
DON'T WORRY!...IT'S ALL UNDER CONTROL
STREETS OF BLOOD...Horror in financial district as man dies in hail of bullets...More
5,456 offences were committed last year by thugs out on bail...More
A decent man, Padraig Nally, terrified by traveller thugs GETS JUSTICE AT LAST...More
Hijack gang drove over man's body as he tried to stop their crime spree...Traveller gang suspected...More
Two men shot dead in Finglas...More
Record numbers released from jail...More
Postal worker shot dead in Kilkenny...More
Man attacked last week dies...More
Traveller shot in row at funeral...More
Gardai attacked by mob of teenagers. Only two get jail...More
Extra pathologist must be appointed as murders soar...More
Assassination bid on Adams aborted
...More
Guns so rampant that seizure won't be in crime statistics...More
Justice minister says that judges are too soft on drug dealers...More
|
133% RISE IN ABDUCTIONS
Irish Mirror 14/04/06:
Kidnapping rose by 133% for the first three months of this year.
Murder rose by 71%...from 7 to 12.
Overall increase in serious crime...up 8%.
Burglary up 12%
Armed burglary up 25%.
THE RISE AND RISE OF YOB CULTURE
Irish Mirror 05/05/06:
Put boot in yob culture
YOB culture is spreading across Ireland like a disease.
No city or town is immune to loitering, vandalism and boozing in the streets.
Honest Irish people work hard for a living and should not have to run the gauntlet of trouble-making losers who will never make a success of their lives.
Gangs of 'hoodies' are terrorising clean-living teenagers, young mums and families in neighbourhoods the length and breadth of the country.
But we cannot always blame the Gardai for the scourge of anti-social behaviour.
In many cases their hands are tied and in others a lack of resources means nothing can be done in time.
The louts who appear day in, day out in the childrens courts are the kind responsible for wreaking havoc.
But the punishment rarely fits the crime and they are soon back doing what they do best.
It's a sad day when our pensioners are afraid to walk the streets after dark because of gangs loitering, drinking in the street and vandalising property.
Schools, parks and street corners, which people should be able to enjoy without fear, are often no-go areas.
We should get these scumbags off the streets now.
Intimidation is one of the worst types of anti-social behaviour.
Getting more Gardai to pound the beat is one way of combating the yobs.
Until that happens thousands of people are condemned to live in fear
Back to Top
CHEMIST SHOPS EASY TARGET FOR THUGS
Pharmacists in plea over violent attacks
Ireland Online 05/05/2006:
Violent attacks are making it almost impossible to run a pharmacy in parts of Dublin, it was claimed today.
The Irish Pharmaceutical Union has called for more garda patrols and stricter bail conditions for repeat offenders to combat the problem.
The IPU, which represents 1,600 stores, said there were 91 reported incidents of burglaries, raids and attacks on pharmacies and pharmacy staff in 2005.
Many of the incidents were violent and pharmacy workers were threatened with iron bars, knives and guns by attackers in balaclavas. In one case a security guard was stabbed.
The IPU said the attacks are very traumatising for both the staff and the 400,000 customers who visit pharmacies every day.
There were nine attacks on the Hickey chain of 26 pharmacies around the country.
Owner and IPU member, Paddy Hickey said: “We have been scourged with attacks recently to the point where it is becoming almost impossible to operate a pharmacy on the street in certain parts of Dublin.”
The IPU is holding its AGM in Athlone this weekend which will hear a number of motions calling on the Justice Minister to address the security threat being posed to pharmacies.
Mr Hickey demanded increased garda visibility around pharmacies and stricter bail conditions for known offenders.
He said: “The criminal justice system is too lenient when it comes to applying bail conditions, where a defendant has been accused of violent threats to pharmacy staff.
“Healthcare staff will feel safer, where a defendant, who had previously been convicted on a similar charge, is remanded in custody while awaiting trial.”
“If a criminal has committed a previous offence, they should be required to serve the full custodial sentence, otherwise, there is little disincentive to repeating such offences.”
“In addition, the leniency of sentences commonly imposed effectively rewards such criminal, often violent, behaviour, and, the Government needs to introduce mandatory minimum sentencing for such crimes, if this policy does not change.”
Last year the IPU held two seminars on crime prevention in conjunction with An Garda Siochana in a bid to ensure pharmacy staff could limit the chances of a break-in.
Back to Top
HOUSE SET ON FIRE TWICE
Gorey Guardian 15/04/06:
Arsonists return to burn down house
Gardai are investigating two arson attacks in the space of 24 hours on a house in Carley's Bridge.
The house, owned by Wexford County Council, was boarded up and unoccupied at the time. It had been built for a Travelling family but remained uninhabited for the past year and a half.
Enniscorthy fire services were called to the bungalow at around 6 a.m. on Monday morning and managed to control the blaze and confine the damage.
However, Gardaí suspect someone returned to the house early yesterday morning (Tuesday) and deliberately set fire to it a second time.
Enniscorthy fire services were alerted to the scene at 3 a.m. and two units battled with the inferno that gutted the dwelling.
'There was a lot of fire and the inside was severely burnt,' said a spokesman for the fire service. 'It got in to the attic space and badly damaged the building.'
A forensic team from Enniscorthy Garda Station examined the scene early yesterday morning.
'We're not sure of the exact cause of the fire yet,' said a spokesman for the Gardaí, 'but an investigation is being carried out.'
Man gets bail despite High Court refusal
Irish Indo 15/04/06:
A MAN has been released on bail after appearing at a special court sitting charged with brandishing a baseball bat and an iron bar during an aggravated burglary last year.
Brian McGinley's application to the Supreme Court for bail was successful, after an initial appeal to the High Court was turned down yesterday.
Mr McGinley (32), with an address at Blackberry Lane, Athlone, appeared at a special court sitting in the midlands on Thursday. He was accused of taking part in a €250,000 raid where armed and masked burglars broke into the home of Damien and Rachel Kilmartin at Glasson, Athlone.
Turning into another Limerick? Galway should be so lucky
Irish Indo 15/04/06:
THE MAYOR of Limerick has dismissed comments by a Galway councillor who claimed his city was "in danger of turning into Limerick" if crime continued to escalate.
Former Galway mayor John Mulhollond made the controversial remarks after one of his bookie shops was robbed for the 12th time in two years.
He said Galway was becoming a sort of "Dodge City" and if it continued in the same vein it was in danger of turning into Limerick.
But Limerick Lord Mayor Diarmuid Scully went on to describe Cllr Mulholland's remarks as "wishful thinking" and said that a number of positive things would happen in the west of Ireland city should it turn into Limerick.
"Crime would drop. Growth would also pick up. Perhaps even the rugby would improve if Galway turned into Limerick.
"Connacht might finally make it into the Heineken Cup."
Back to Top
NO DOCTORS TO TEST DRUNK DRIVERS
Irish Indo 05/04/06:
'Dire shortage' of medical support
Tom Brady...Security Editor
A MAXIMUM of three doctors are available for call out to garda stations throughout Dublin city.
The shortage of medical back-up for gardai was revealed yesterday as members of the force sought the intervention of Justice Minister Michael McDowell and senior officers to come to their aid.
The annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors in Killarney heard that some doctors' private practices were suffering because they were tied up all day as they waited to give evidence.
Other medics had been viciously assaulted while treating or examining suspects in custody.
Dublin south central delegate Pat Joe McCarthy disclosed the medical crisis in the capital and said it was now impossible in many cases to get suitable medical back-up, either to take samples from suspects or to examine victims of rape or other serious crime.
Mr McCarthy said: "This has gone on far too long. The gardai and the victims of crime deserve better than the present vacuum." Many years ago, he said, the association had passed a motion, which was accepted by the Garda Commissioner of the day as being necessary, that suitable detention facilities with medical back-up be made available to the gardai.
"Society has regressed rather than progressed," Mr McCarthy added.
Meanwhile, the conference also heard a demand for single-cell suites with dedicated washroom and recreation facilities in all Garda district and divisional headquarters.
Delegate David Forde said it was not uncommon at weekend for up to a dozen prisoners being put into one cell.
"The first prisoner admitted to the cell gets the only bed. He falls asleep quickly and then the next man put in is not in very good humour and he wants the bed. The row results in an assault and then there is an investigation by an officer."
He said that had happened four times in a year in his station.
"In 2006 people should not be detained in such conditions," he added.
The conference backed Mr Forde's motion that the association should refer the issue to the European Commission on Human Rights.
Back to Top
POOR FIREARMS TRAINING FOR GARDAI
Irish Indo 15/04/06:
Poor firearms training 'is putting garda lives at risk'
Tom Brady...Security Editor
GARDA management were accused yesterday of failing to produce a comprehensive operational policy on how to respond to a firearms incident.
A conference heard that deficient strategies and poor training meant the lives of gardai and sometimes the public were being put at risk. Garda sergeants and inspectors called on senior officers to provide a properly trained and resourced firearms response unit.
Their association's annual conference in Killarney was told yesterday that criminals would otherwise not be defeated.
Association general secretary Joe Dirwan said: "Mistakes can be made in the area of police work or life, and most can be rectified later. But a mistake in relation to the use of a firearm may cost a life."
The conference decided that a motion demanding that more personnel be trained in the use of firearms should be sent back to the national executive for further debate.
Response
This followed a recommendation from Mr Dirwan, who argued that up to 3,000 gardai could not be trained professionally so that they could provide skilled and effective firearms response units.
He said their needs could be met by reducing the numbers carrying firearms, and training the rest up to efficient and professional standards.
Outside of the emergency response unit, nobody in the force was trained in use of firearms in darkness, in vehicle intercepts or in approaching occupied buildings.
"A detective driving a family saloon car, armed with a .38 special and a bullet-proof sports coat, is now expected to deal with criminals, sometimes high on drugs, armed with modern high calibre weapons, and driving the top-of-the-range, high-powered cars.
"What strategies are in place in relation to the command and management of firearms incidents? None."
"What do gardai do when confronted with a criminal armed with a knife or some other offensive weapon? Where is our less lethal response?" Mr Dirwan wanted to know.
In the Garda Code, he pointed out, there was more detail on how to clean a firearm than on how to manage a firearms-related incident.
There were no guidelines for supervisors on how to deploy armed members to deal with these incidents.
Back to Top
EAR BITTEN OFF IN ROW
Wexford People 15/04/06:
Savage attacks
A youth had his ear bitten off, while a gay man was kicked unconscious in a weekend of savage violence on Wexford's Main Street.
The unrelated attacks were both unprovoked, and left the victims in need of urgent medical attention at Wexford General Hospital.
On Saturday night a young man was walking home with his girlfriend at North Main Street when he was attacked by a gang of four youths. During the course of the vicious attack part of the victim's ear was bitten off.
Meanwhile, on Friday night a 28-year-old gay man was the victim of a 'gay bashing' incident, when he was kicked unconscious by two men.
The victim, who sustained a broken nose and other facial injuries, said this week he was 'lucky' that the violent attack had not left him 'brain damaged'.
'One or two more kicks to the head and I could have been brain damaged,' he said.
'This was definitely a hate crime. They called me a queer and kicked me repeatedly in the head.'
Gardai seize arms in County Clare
unison.ie 15/04/06:
Gardai has discovered two shotguns, four revolvers, three rifles and a small quantity of explosives and ammunition in County Clare
The items were found as part of an ongoing investigation into organized criminal activity in the Clare area.
Gardai were assisted by an Army Ordnance team at the search location in the Cratloe area.
The scene has been sealed off and a full technical examination of the area is now underway.
No arrests have yet been made but investigations are continuing.
Pensioner thought he was going to be killed
Carlow People 15/04/06:
A Nurney pensioner, who was viciously attacked in his own home on Friday night, feared for his life when masked raiders beat him and tied him up.
Jimmy Doran from Oldtown, Nurney, was at home alone late on Friday night when the thieves struck.
They deceived Mr. Doran into answering his door and then forced their way into the house, threatening him with a pickaxe handle.
The three hit Mr. Doran, who is aged in his seventies, tied him to a chair and threw a duvet over him.
According to one of Mr. Doran's eleven children, Kathleen McArdle, he feared for this life. 'My father thought they were going to do him in,' a very upset Kathleen told the Carlow People.
She said that while her mother, Bridie, wasn't in the house at the time of the attack, both of her parents were extremely traumatised by the event.
'It's very hard to see your own parents afraid to leave the house,' Kathleen said. 'That's no quality of life for them after bringing up eleven of us.'
Charge parents for kids’ criminal acts – Garda chief
Drogheda Independent
By Fiona Magennis
PARENTS of out of control teenagers should face criminal charges and deal with the consequences of their children’s bad behaviour, the Chief Superintendent of the Louth/Meath division has claimed.
Speaking as he retires from the force, Chief Superintendent Michael Finnegan revealed that some parents are so blase they refuse to attend while their child is interviewed and shop keepers or a peace commissioner have to be called on by gardai.
‘I’ve seen incidents where young lads, 14 or 15, are taken into the garda station here; you contact the parents and they simply don’t want to know. In some cases they’ll tell you: ‘do what you want with them, they don’t want to know,’ he said.
‘These kids can’t be interviewed without the presence of an adult and in a lot of cases you have to go out and get a peace commissioner or a shopkeeper to sit in.’
The Chief Super said a huge number of young people and teenagers are involved in crimes locally, particularly public order offences, and parents should be held responsible for their activities and the damage they cause.
‘I don’t know what the answer is but one thing I would feel strongly about it that parents should be held responsible for those youngsters,’ he said. ‘They should be culpable, if a young lad or girl is involved in a serious incident of public order or criminal damage, not alone should he be charged but the parents should be charged as well and let them suffer the consequences of it.’
He said many of those young people involved in crime did so because parents simply didn’t care and believes that if they were held more accountable then they would make a more active effort to stop their children from taking part in such incidents.
‘Until such time as there is some legislation like that, and I don’t know if we’ll ever see it, but until such time as something comes in to hit them hard like that they’ll just turn a blind eye to it. There is a hell of a lot of crime being committed by youngsters and something has to be done,’ he said.
Operation foils travelling criminals
Drogheda Independent 15/04/06:
By Christine Doherty and Donncha Mac Raghnaill
GARDAI have arrested a man as part of Operation Apron, a regional initiative involving both overt and covert armed patrols targeting criminals travelling in to Drogheda to steal.
Superintendent Gerry Smith revealed: ‘Last week, members of Operation Apron found a number of men on a commercial site on the industrial estate in Drogheda engaged in the theft of cable.’
He said that one man was arrested and a file is currently being prepared for the DPP.
Operation Apron is in progress for five months now and has involved dedicated armed gardaí on patrols, deployed mostly along the motorway.
‘Drogheda Garda District’s brief is to monitor and intercept travelling criminals from Dublin and elsewhere accessing the town,’ Supt Smith said. ‘It operates on designated nights during the hours of darkness.’
‘Armed gardaí and plain-clothes gardaí are involved in both high visibility patrols including checkpoints as well as on occasion being drafted into residential areas.
‘We patrol a wide area on the perimeter of Drogheda from the M1 to the N2 in a semi-circle in response to the latest crime trends.
‘The overt aspect is checkpoints on all the routes while we have some covert patrols in Drogheda estates, in particular on the southside, in response to the number of recent burglaries,’ he said.
GARDA authorities are also liaising closely with the PSNI to identify those suspected of involvement in such criminal activity from both sides of the border.
Apron is a direct spin-off from Operation Anvil, the anti-gang garda operation aimed at organised crime in Dublin and also focuses on criminals who have moved from the capital to the area.
According to Drogheda TD, Fergus O’Dowd (FG), just seven percent of burglaries in Louth were detected last year, while of the 34 robberies, only three were solved, which is a detection rate of 8.8%.
Back to Top
NO PLACE TO STORE SEIZED CARS
Irish Indo 15/04/06:
Nowhere to put clapped-out seized cars
A SHORTAGE of storage space is preventing gardai from seizing clapped out cars, writes Tom Brady.
Now the gardai want outsourced and secure facilities for the removal, storage and disposal of vehicles that are being seized under the road traffic legislation.
At present the "bangers" are being stored in yards attached to Garda stations but space is at a premium.
The annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors heard that the storage crisis is particularly acute in some Border divisions.
Donegal delegate Iggy Larkin said that in 2004 a total of 30 people were killed on the roads in the county and of those, 20 victims were under 25.
He said 24 of them had been killed in the first six months of the year and it was clear that they had a major problem with young drivers. A special unit was set up to target young drivers and as a result they seized 140 cars in the first six weeks of the operation.
These were cars that had either been involved in fatal or serious accidents, were being driven without insurance or were "bangers".
"But we had nowhere to put these vehicles. We were being discouraged, and rightly so, from seizing so many because there was no space available to store them," Mr Larkin said.
Donegal had more than its fair share of high-profile multiple road deaths where young people were the victims. Partly as a result of its proximity to Northern Ireland, there was a strong culture of speeding and a big number of "boy racers".
Many of the cars being driven were "clapped-out bangers, bought for no more than €100 from unscrupulous dealers and being used in rallies around back roads, often with tragic consequences".
The lack of space meant efforts to combat the problem were being frustrated.
Back to Top
JOKE LEGAL SYSTEM...AUTHORITIES FAILURE TO ANTICIPATE
CHILD RAPIST WALKS FREE 31/05/06:
Don't forget...This rapist only received a THREE YEAR sentence in the first place...???
PRISON SERVICE FIASCO
Minister tripped up as FG calls for bail tags
...Click
Spike 'could be mini Alcatraz'
...Click
Prison system is a total failure, says jail inspector
...Click
Officers set to mount challenge against exemption from smoke ban
...Click
Prison stabbing victim 'serious'
...Click
Sniffer dog Rex proves a bone of contention
...Click
Two new state-of-the-art prisons to be drug-free
...Click
40 fled open prison in a year
...Click
Prisons packed to capacity
...Click
