Ireland

Reported rapes in Northern Ireland up by over a third

REPORTED rapes in the North rose by over a third last year, to reach a higher rate than that in England and Wales, according …

By SUZANNE BREEN
Fri Aug 23 1996 - 01:00

REPORTED rapes in the North rose by over a third last year, to reach a higher rate than that in England and Wales, according to a British government report on crime published yesterday.

A total of 229 cases were reported to the RUC compared to 168 in 1994, according to the report, A Commentary on Northern Ireland Crime Statistics 1995. Of 1,697 sexual offences reported - a 26 per cent yearly increase - 932 were indecent assaults, up 34 per cent.

A Rape Crisis Centre spokeswoman said the police were working hard to deal with sexual crime but she criticised the Department of Public Prosecutions, saying only two of 50 cases reported to the centre last year had resulted in a conviction.

The level of other crime in the North remains lower than in Britain. A total of 68,808 offences were recorded by the RUC. Half of all crime was theft, the largest category of offence.

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Almost £44 million in cash and property was stolen by way of theft, burglary, robbery, and fraud and forgery. However, this was £11.7 million less than in 1994 Criminal damage rose by nearly a quarter.

Violent crimes rose by 7 per cent to reach 5,150. But there were 22 murders and 35 attempted murders last year, compared to 82 and 255 respectively in 1994 - loyalists and republicans were still engaged in violence in the first eight months of that year.

The police "cleared up" (i.e. took action, from a caution to a prosecution) 36 per cent of crimes committed last year, an increase of 2 per cent on 1994. There was a clear-up rate of 90 per cent for offences against the state and 82 per cent for sexual crimes. Burglary and robbery had only a 19 per cent clear-up rate.

The number of defendants appearing at magistrates courts fell by 3 per cent to 36,659 - 88 per cent pleaded guilty. The vast majority of court defendants, 87 per cent, were adult males; 10 per cent were adult females and 3 per cent were juveniles.

The highest rate of convictions for all crimes was among 19-year-old males. The average prison population in the North was 1,762 last year, a fall of 7 per cent on 1994.