THE ANNUAL REPORT for 2010 from the Courts Service reveals that there was a 24  per cent increase in the number of drugs offences dealt with in the Circuit Criminal Court last year, when compared with 2009.

The report details that most of the 34 sentences of ten years or more imposed by the Court were mostly for drugs offences, while more than half of sentences between five and ten years were also drugs related.

There was a 32 per cent decrease in murder cases at the Central Criminal Court, while rape cases were up 29 per cent.

Cases related to debt and insolvency were on the up last year too, with a 71 per cent increase in new bankruptcies and an 11 per cent increase in orders for possession in the High Court.

There was a 16 per cent increase in the numbers of applications by the HSE for supervision orders – 731 applications were made in total. There was a marked increase in applications for custody, access and guardianship, while applications for divorce and separation were down, nine per cent and 13 per cent respectively.

In numbers: Courts Service 2010

• Murder cases – 36, a 32 per cent decrease
• Rape cases – 63, a 29 per cent increase
• Drink driving offences – saw a 13 per cent decrease
• European Arrest Warrant applications – 457, a 43 per cent increase
• Drug offences in the Circuit Court – 1,186, a 24 per cent increase
• Drug offences in the District Court – 16,939 – a four per cent decrease
• New bankruptcies – 29, a 71 per cent increase
• Judgements for recovery of debt – 2,792, a 25 per cent increase
• Applications for HSE supervision orders – 731, a 16 per cent increase
• Applications for care orders – an 11 per cent increase
• Applications for custody – 1,380, a 44 per cent increase
• Applications for access – 4,784, a ten per cent increase
• Applications for divorce – 3,381, a nine per cent decrease
• Applications for separation – 1,420, a 13 per cent decrease
• Applications under the domestic violence legislation – 9,945
• Road traffic offences – 313,565, a six per cent decrease
• Juvenile crime – 9162, a nine per cent increase

You can read the entire report with all the figures here>