Local crime figures highlight rise in burglaries and thefts

A spate of recent house burglaries in the Athlone area have been reflected in new local crime figures, which highlight a significant rise in thefts and burglaries in the last three months. According to the latest crime stats released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) yesterday (Tuesday), burglary and related offences increased from 110 in quarter two to 152 during the last quarter in Westmeath, while theft and related offences increased by 56 in the three months. And while these types of crimes are on the rise, there has been a decrease in the number of drink driving offences recorded in the Westmeath Garda District, dropping from 99 in quarter two to 76 offences recorded between July and September of this year. Similarly, public order offences have decreased from 274 in quarter two to 237 in quarter three. More serious crimes were in much smaller numbers, with no homicide offences recorded in Westmeath in quarter three, or in fact for the first nine months of the year. There were only three sexual offences recorded in quarter three, compared to ten for the previous three-month period and seven for the first three months of the year. Dangerous or negligent acts, which takes in dangerous driving, drink driving, abandoning a child etc, also dropped in the third quarter of the year. Just 92 such offences were recorded in Westmeath between July and September, compared to 119 for the previous three months and 117 for the first three months of the year. Similarly, there was a drop in attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences, with 86 such offences recorded in quarter three, compared to 117 recorded from April until June and 88 recorded from January to March. A single kidnapping and related offences was recorded in the Garda division between July and September, an identical number to quarter two, while no such offences were recorded in the first quarter of the year. Fraud and deception offences remained fairly static throughout the thee quarters, with 24 such offences recorded in quarter three, compared to 17 in the previous three months and 27 for the first three months of the year. Weapons and explosives offences increased slightly from eight in quarter two to 14 in quarter three, with 15 such offences recorded in Westmeath in the first three months of the year. Damage to property and to the environment accounted for 194 offences in quarter three of this year, 176 in the previous three months and 189 offences from January to March, while offences against government, justice procedures and organisation of crime accounted for 15 offences in quarter three, 24 offences in quarter two and 47 offences in quarter one. In total 1,245 offences were recorded in Westmeath between July and September this year, compared to 1,219 in the previous three months and 1,221 in the first three months of the year. This amounts to 3,685 in total, a drop of 318 offences on the same period last year, or a decrease of 8%.