234 deaths misclassified over 14 years

GARDAÍ wrongly classified 234 deaths between 2003 and 2016 inclusive, figures from the Central Statistics Office show.

Yesterday’s release of Recorded Crime statistics is the first since the CSO suspended them last year over concerns about the accuracy of information from the gardaí.

Just under 200 were road deaths which should have been recorded as homicides in the ‘dangerous driving causing death’ category

Meanwhile, manslaughters were also under-recorded, by 41 cases.

The rectification of Pulse crime incident records by An Garda Síochána means there are revisions to recorded crime statistics covering the period 2003 to 2016 from those last published by the CSO in March 2017. These changes are most apparent in homicides. Over the period, the recorded number of homicide incidents rose from 1,282 to 1,516. This 18.3% rise is primarily concentrated in dangerous driving leading to death, where offences over the period rose from 504 to 700, up 38.9%. The number of manslaughters rose 43.6% from 94 to 135 or 41 offences, while the number of murders fell from 683 to 680.

Earlier this month, it emerged that only 13 of the 41 domestic homicides committed between 2013 and 2015 that were flagged for further checks were properly classified.

That 2013-2015 review has now led to a further review, as well as one extending back to 2003.