GUNNED DOWN: Dean Johnson was viciously killed last August IRELAND’S murder rate has soared — despite an overall drop in most types of crime across the country, official figures show.
Some 60 people were murdered in the 12 months to the end of March this year — up more than 36 per cent, from 44, on the same period the previous year.
The most shocking murders during that period included the vicious killing of small-time criminal Dean Johnson (21), who was shot multiple times in the face near his home in Clondalkin last August.
Two months previously, mum Jolanta Lubiene and her eight-year-old daughter Enrika were stabbed to death at their home in Killorglin, Co Kerry.
Lithuanian man Aurimas Andruska (26) has been charged with Jolanta’s murder and the unlawful killing of Enrika.
This year then started violently when Dale Creighton (20) was beaten to death on a pedestrian bridge in Tallaght at about 4am on New Year’s Day.
Six men and one woman have been charged with his murder.
And republican Declan ‘Fat Deccy’ Smith (32) became another of the 60 murder victims after he was shot dead outside a creche in Donaghmede this March.
Overall, killings — which also include manslaughter and dangerous driving leading to death — increased by more than a fifth (23 per cent).
But most other types of criminal activity have dipped — continuing the trend of recent years.
Drugs
Sex offences, threats, negligence, robbery, burglary, fraud, deception, weapons offences and public order offences have all come down.
But the figures show a 6.3 per cent rise in the number of kidnappings, to 19 in the year — with a 106 per cent increase in abductions of children under 16.
Theft rose by more than two per cent over the same period, while there was also a slight rise in drugs offences.
Overall, 10 of 14 offence groups for which figures were produced were down.
The sharpest decreases were in damage to property and the environment, down almost nine per cent; weapons and explosives offences, down nearly eight per cent; and a six per cent drop in attempts or threats to murder, assault or harass.
Acting Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan said the increase in murders was not down to organised crime but remained a concern for the force.
“I would appeal to everyone to consider the terrible impact this crime has,” she said.
“Not only has someone lost their life, but communities and more importantly families and friends will face years of devastation.
“It is imperative that people think about the potentially devastating consequences of their actions…as lives can be changed in an instant.”
