BURGLARIES, armed robberies, muggings and thefts increased by between 50 per cent and 300 per cent in some Dublin suburbs in the first four years of this decade.
Figures in a crime survey published yesterday by the Progressive Democrats finance spokesman, Mr Michael Me Dowell, also show that rape and sexual offences have doubled.
The statistics "document the explosion in crime in my own constituency of Dublin South East," he said. They are based on data from the Department of Justice. By collating the crime statistics for each Garda district in the constituency, it had been possible to quantify "the growing crime wave over the years 1990 to 1994". No figures are yet available for 1995.
"A frightening trend emerges Mr McDowell said. The crimes selected include murder, manslaughter, rape, sexual assault and assault, car theft, burglaries and ordinary stealing. While there was no discernible pattern in the offences of manslaughter and assault, murder had gone up from an annual average of one to four over the period.
Reported rapes and sexual assaults had increased consistently in 1990 there were 15 reported cases five were rapes but this figure was up to 23 in 1993 and 18 in 1994, of which 12 were rapes.
"The rate of growth in serious crime between 1990 and 1993 was highest in the suburbs of Dublin South East and lowest in the centre city areas, even though crime grew in most inner city areas. Because the Minister cannot give full figures for 1994, it is not possible to give the overall trends for 1994", Mr McDowell said.
The growth rate in crime, excluding car theft, was 71 per cent in Rathmines 47 per cent in Donnybrook 220 per cent in Ringsend/Sandymount 26 per cent in the Harcourt Terrace district 20 per cent in the Pearse Street district and 19 per cent in the Kevin Street area.
Armed robberies in Dublin South East rose from 175 in 1990 to 416 in 1993 in all, there were 1,262 such robberies in the constituency, while the figure for all robberies came to 3,115. From 1990 to 1994 there were 16,235 reported burglaries in Dublin South East, a constituency with about 30,000 homes.
Evidence for the period from 1990 to 1994 showed the beginning of a growth in drug driven patterns of crime. Suburban areas were "clearly considered soft targets for such violence", Mr McDowell said.
The figures demonstrated a worsening problem that pointed to the need for drug free detoxification prisons, he added, and showed the need for more prison space.
"Having dithered and delayed in dealing with the crisis, the Government has now proposed to commence building another remand prison at Wheatfield. This centre will be designed to hold people who have not been convicted.
"No extra accommodation is planned for convicted prisoners who are at the moment only serving a small fraction of their sentence", Mr McDowell said.