2,397 crimes in last month
WEXFORD saw a total of 2,397 criminal incidents in the month of January, the Chief Superintendent’s Report to last week’s Joint Policing Committee revealed. Over the course of the month, there was an average of around 4 arrests per day, while around 15 cars were seized per week.
In terms of road traffic offences, gardaí set up a total of 451 checkpoints and there were 1,581 instances of people using a phone while driving, 793 people driving without a seatbelt and 1,715 instances of speeding on Wexford roads.
There was a marked decrease in drug related crime when compared with January of last year with just 28 incidents compared to 43. Of these, three were possession for sale or supply.
Throughout January, there were 116 instances of property crime. ‘This is still high and it’s something we’re working on actively,’ Supt Ferry said. There were 47 burglaries across the county in January - 29 in the Wexford district, 5 in New Ross and 13 in the Enniscorthy District which encompasses Gorey.
There was a total of 9 thefts of MPVs in January and Supt Ferry warned members of the public to remain vigilant and take all precautions possible when it comes to locking up cars.
There was one robbery over the course of the month - a relatively serious incident which took place in Wexford and saw the culprit apprehended by gardaí very quickly.
January saw 7 incidents of assault causing harm and 18 minor assaults. Supt Ferry said that, comparatively speaking, this wasn’t something which is a major issue in Wexford, but part of this was down to beat patrols at certain points in the week, particularly at weekends.
Finally it was noted that there had been eight recorded instances of sexual assault in Co Wexford in January. Cllr George Lawlor raised the subject of inordinate delays from the time of taking statements to conviction in the courts and asked the reason behind this. He noted one case highlighted in this newspaper where it took three years from the statements being taken in relation to a sexual assault to reach the point of conviction.
‘This is not a criticism of the Gardaí but the DPP,’ he said. ‘Is this something we can bring to bear with them?’
‘Overall, we have a good relationship with the DPP,’ Supt Ferry said. ‘I couldn’t really comment without knowing the exact details of that case, but I would say that it does seem like a long time and it would be unusual.’