Louth sees large increase in theft and related offences

The Louth Garda Division has seen a large increase in the number of theft and related offences according to the latest figures released last week by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

485 theft and related offences were recorded in the Louth Garda Division in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, up from 419 in the final quarter of 2022 and up from 351 in the first quarter of last year, according to the CSO release, Recorded Crime Q1 2023. 

On an annual basis, 1,725 theft and related offences were recorded in Louth between Q2 2022 and Q1 2023, up from 1,425 recorded between Q2 2021 and Q1 2022, representing a year on year increase of 21% in theft and related offences recorded in the Louth Garda Division.

The largest increase was seen in the theft/taking of vehicle and related offences, which rose from 105 recorded offences in the year to Q1 2022, to 151 in the year to Q1 2023, an annual increase of 43.8%. In the first quarter of this year, the number of offences recorded was 64, up from 44 in the final quarter of 2022 and up from 27 in the first quarter of 2022.

There was also a 25% annual increase in the number of theft from shop offences, with 856 recorded in the Louth Garda Division in the year to Q1 2023, compared to 683 a year previously. 236 of these offences were recorded in the first quarter of this year, up from 178 in the first quarter of last year.

The rise in theft and related offences recorded in the Louth Garda Division, reflects a rise seen across the State. Nationally, recorded crime incidents classed as Theft & Related offences increased by 36% to 69,340 in the year to Q1 2023 compared with the previous year. Theft from shops, which contributed to nearly half of this increase, was up by 37% over the year.

Commenting on the Recorded Crime Quarter 1 2023 publication, Jim Dalton, Statistician in the Crime & Criminal Justice Section, said that "data for 2020 and 2021 for some crime categories are likely to have been influenced by the public health restrictions imposed as a result of COVID-19.”

Recorded Crime statistics continue to be categorised as Statistics Under Reservation. This categorisation indicates that the quality of these statistics do not meet the standards required of official statistics published by the CSO.