Fraud crimes in Mayo still at a high level

FRAUD crimes remain at a high level in Mayo, though they have decreased since last year.

To date in 2022, 474 have been reported to gardaí - down 30% from 684 last year.

However, they are still a long way ahead of 2019 when there were 214 cases.

Detective Inspector Denis Harrington, at a county policing committee meeting, advised people yet again that banks don't send emails looking for security passwords or personal details, and don't click on links or reply to texts from numbers you don't recognise.

As expected with lockdowns lifted, this year has seen crime levels increase in many sectors in the county.

Burglaries are up 31% on last year to 143 - but that's 10% less than the 159 in 2019, pre-Covid.

Criminal damage is down 33% - from 333 in '21 to 297.

Public order and drunkness have both risen - there have been 320 public order incidents this year (up 43% from 277 last year), with 221 incidents of drunkness (up from 94 last year but in line with 2019 when they were 203 cases).

There have been five robberies in the county so far this year compared to four and six in the previous two years.

Thirty-four sexual assaults have been reported in 2022.

Thefts from vehicles are down 7% on last year to 40, and compared to 2019, when there were 122 cases, that's a drop of 67%. Thefts from shops having risen to 304, up 33% (228) last year but in line with the situation pre-pandemic.

In the past three months, gardaí in Mayo have seized over €60,000 worth of drugs and over €27,000 in cash. That brings the total haul over the past two years to more than €2.3 million.

Det. Inspt. Harrington said intimidation is an issue affecting some families where a member owes a drug debt to dealers. He encouraged anyone affected to contact their local garda station.