Spike in drink and driving in division, according to CSO
FIGURES from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) have revealed a steady increase in the number of arrests for drink-driving across the Cork North Garda division over the course of 2016.
According to CSO statistics, the final quarter of the year saw a particular spike in the number of detections with the figure for the three-month period, up by almost 40 per cent compared to the same period in 2015.
The figure for the final quarter of 2015 stood at 60 detections, rising to 65 over the first three months of last year.
This figure increased by four during the second quarter, with 70 detections in quarter three.
However, during the three month-period leading up to December 31, Gardai recorded 83 drink drive offences, an increase of 23 detections on the same period in 2015.
The final quarter crime figures for 2016 for the division – which covers Mallow, Fermoy, Midleton, Cobh and Youghal – also recorded increases across other categories, most notably drug and public order related offences.
During the period, Gardaí recorded a total of 122 drug-related offences, 99 of which were for possession for personal use – up from 64 over the same period in 2015.
There were 13 recorded sale and supply offences, compared to just four over the same period in 2015. The number of cultivation/manufacture of drugs offences stood at five compared to none during the final quarter of 2015.
Of the 247 recorded offences in public order and social code category, 221 were for disorderly conduct, compared to 192 for the final quarter of 2015.
Within the same category, liquor-licensing offences also saw a significant year-onyear increase from five to 18. A number of other offences also recorded marginal increases over quarter four of 2016 compared to the same period 12 months earlier, including assault and criminal damage.
It was not all bad news, with the number of recorded offences across other categories reducing, most notably those of a sexual nature which dropped from 16 at the tail end of 2016 to nine for the final quarter of 2016, while the number of recorded burglaries dropped from 90 to 72
Separately in early March, gardai in Fermoy prepared a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions following the arrest of a 46-year-old man and the recovery of €18,000 worth of heroin.
The man was one of three men questioned when Gardai stopped a car near Watergrasshill on the main Cork-Dublin Road.
The man was brought to Fermoy Garda Station where he was searched, and gardai recovered €18,000 worth of heroin which has been sent to Forensic Science Ireland for analysis.
The man was detained under Section 2 of the Drugs Trafficking Act which allows gardai hold suspects for up to seven days for questioning but he was released without charge on Saturday afternoon.
The man was later charged in court.