This article is from page 4 of the 2012-10-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
A MAN described by senior gardaí as one of the most “prolific burglars” in Clare has been expelled from the country.
Chief Supt John Kerin said that the number of thefts locally have de- creased by 10 per cent since the man was arrested.
He was a non-national living in the county and as such gardaí were able to petition to have him excluded from the country.
“This is something we intend to use more of in the future,” said Supt Kerin.
According to the Central Statistic Office, burglary and related offences had decreased by 3 per cent so far this year when compared to the same time last year.
Likewise robbery, extortion and hijacking were also down by 8 per cent, while theft and related offences stayed the same at 780.
A closer look at the figures reveal that theft from the person has increased by 220 per cent from five incidence in 2011, to 16 cases in 2012.
Superintendent Kerin said the majority of these incidents were in the Ennis area and mostly took place in supermarkets.
People who are doing a large grocery shop often leave their handbags or purses in the trolley and discover when they go to the check out that the purse has been robbed from the bag, the superintendent explained.
The number of car and vehicle thefts also increased during the first nine months of the year from 113 to 130 and theft from shops went up by 25 incidents when compared to the first nine months of last year.
General burglary was down 3 per cent however although aggravated burglary had increased by three incidents to five.
Robbery from premises was up from two cases to five also, while robbery from the person had decreased by one third.
Other thefts had decreased by 10 per cent.
Chief Supt Kerin said that the Gardaí have a detection rate of 65 per cent when it comes to these crimes, a figures that is considered high when compared nationally.
“While one crime is one too many, when compared to other Garda figures around the country we have managed to reduce the number of overall crime,” he said.