Rape and serious assault cases soar
BLACKMAIL ALSO ON THE RISE
Clarke’s initial appointment raised concerns for some as he was recently appointed as the president of the Law Reform Commission for a fiveyear term.
The commission reviews current laws in Ireland and conducts research on potential legal reforms.
Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said: “I don’t think it’s appropriate for somebody as president of the LRC to be sitting on a court about which there is so much controversy.”
GARDAI are probing if a prisoner was attacked on the orders of a Kinahan cartel hitman within Mountjoy Prison, The Star has learned.
The huge investigation into the attack on Robert O’Connor is continuing as he remained on life support in the Mater Hospital last night.
O’Connor (34) suffered a bleed to the brain after he was targeted by up to four men in the Dublin jail last Friday evening and his chances of survival are thought to be slim.
Although gardai have not ruled out that the attack was ordered from outside the prison, investigators are now probing if a wellknown Dublin hitman sought approval from a more senior Kinahan member in Mountjoy to orchestrate the attack on O’Connor.
Contract
The contract killer was seen speaking to a cartel lieutenant in the prison for a considerable amount of time in the days leading up to the beating.
Officers are working to establish if the hitman — a trusted Kinahan associate who is serving a lengthy sentence behind bars
“He’s a dangerous character who is a part of the Kinahan cohort but that aspect will be progressed and ruled in or out in the coming days.”
Yesterday, we revealed how one of the up to four men who attacked O’Connor “danced” on the victim’s body after the attack.
THE number of alleged rapes, assaults causing harm and cases of blackmail have soared in the first half of 2022, new stats reveal.
The figures published by gardai for January to June show many forms of crime increased compared to the same period in 2021 and 2019.
Reports of rape jumped by 23 per cent since 2021 and 11 per cent since 2019.
Assaults causing harm were up 34 per cent in the first half of 2021 and up 14 per cent in the same period in 2019.
Blackmail and extortion offences have increased by 32 per cent since last year, and by 227 per cent compared to 2019 figures.
Although fraud has decreased overall there has been “significant increases” in online fraud.
This includes account take over fraud which is up 128 per cent since last year, with accommodation fraud up 58 per cent, with bogus tradesman fraud soaring 81 per cent.
Pandemic
A garda spokesman said: “Technology based fraud increased significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic while most other types of fraud decreased during this time.”
Sexual offences have been increasing since early 2015 and although figures plateaued in 2020, the upward trend has resumed in 2021.
Gardai say the increase in sexual offence figures may be related to the change in reporting behaviour whereby victims are increasingly likely come forward.
In terms of domestic violence, there are 13 per cent more incidents attended by Gardai in the first half of 2022 compared with last year.
Harassment, stalking and threats are down five per cent compared to the first six months in 2021 but up 17 per cent from 2019.
And thefts from a person are up 164 per cent but the number is 46 per cent less than the figure in 2019.
The figures are from the gardai’s Pulse system which are sent to the Central Statistics Office where they will be verified before being published as official crime stats.