CASES OF ROBBERY, HIJACKING AND EXTORTION increased significantly in 2010 compared with the year before, according to the latest crime figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The number of offences classified as robbery, extortion or hijacking rose by 36.2% between the final quarters of 2009 and 2010, and by 28.2% for the year in total.
There were over 3,000 robberies in 2010, and theft from a person rose 46.2% in the final quarter of last year.
In contrast, the number of attempts or threats to murder or assault fell by 10.7%, from 4,319 incidents in Q4 2009 to 3,858 for the same period of 2010.
Two less people were murdered in 2010 than in 2009.
The number of recorded sexual offences rose by almost a quarter from 315 in the final quarter of 2009 to 388 in Q4 2010, and by just over 60% for the full year.
The CSO says that some of these cases are part of an ongoing review by the gardaí of alleged sexual offences. Although they may have occurred some time in the past, they are represented in these crime statistics under their date of reclassification.
Human trafficking offences fell from 49 cases in 2009 to 29 in 2010, which contributed to the overall drop of just over 10% for kidnappings.
The equivalent of 128 disorderly conduct offences occurred throughout Q4 2010, a reduction of 416 offences for that period in comparison with Q4 2009.
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