Search

06 Sept 2025

Burglaries, theft and drug driving offences all rising in Laois/Offaly

New crime stats from the Central Statistics Office reveal latest trends

Theft offences in Laois/Offaly spike as drug driving incidents double

Burglaries were up 13%, rising to 156 offences

Reporter:

Laura McLoughlin

27 Sept 2024 1:52 PM

Email:

news@leinsterexpress.ie

Burglaries, thefts and drug driving offences are all on the rise in the Laois Offaly Garda Division, according to the latest crime stats published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Theft offences in the District rose by 31% during the first half of 2024 with 892 offences recorded compared to 680 during the same period in 2023. 
Drug driving offences were also on the rise, up 44% with 23 offences recorded between January and June 2024 compared to 16 over those six months in 2023. 
Burglaries were up 13%, rising from 156 offences in the first six months of 2023 to 176 this year. 
Meanwhile, non aggravated assaults were up slightly on last year's figures rising by 2% from 249 assaults in the first half of 2023 to 254 over that period in 2024.
Sexual offences in the Laois Offaly Garda Division dropped by 15% from 59 to 50, threats to kill were down from 43 to 33 and assault causing harm dropped by 34% to 83 offences over the six month period in 2024. . 
Drink driving was down 2%, according to the CSO figures with 83 offences recorded between January and June 2024 compared to 85 in 2023. 
While previous CSO reports have noted an increase in fraud offences, these latest figures reveal a 10% drop off with 155 fraud, deception and related offences recorded in the first six months of 2024 in the Laois/Offaly Division.  
There was a downward trend when it comes to drugs with controlled drug offences in the division down 21% from 281 to 222. 
Offences relating to weapons and explosives fell by 6% and offences relating to incidents of arson remained the same with 19 recorded in the district. 
Criminal damage offences dropped slightly from 304 to 301 and offences against government, justice procedures and organised crime dropped 17% with 132 offences in the first two quarters of the year. 
Public order offences fell from 421 to 371 in the first six months of the year, down 12% and offences that occurred while in custody and breach of the courts dipped by 16% to 129.

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!

Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.

Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Most Popular

Sponsored Content

Multimedia

We've got Donegal Covered...

Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie

Buy a paper

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Buy Now
Get the news

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.

Register Here
Iconic Media is Ireland's largest independently owned regional newspaper and media group, with an unrivalled audience in print, online and mobile. We have 19 regional newspapers and 21 digital sites.

Iconic Digital Titles

  • Carlow Live
  • Clare Live
  • Derry Now
  • Donegal Live
  • Éire Bheo
  • Inish Live
  • Ireland Live
  • Kildare Live
  • Kildare Now
  • Kilkenny Live
  • Laois Live
  • Leitrim Live
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Live
  • Longford Live
  • Louth Live
  • Mayo Live
  • Nenagh Live
  • Offaly Live
  • Tipperary Live
  • Waterford Live

    • Iconic Print Titles

  • Clonmel Nationalist
  • County Derry Post
  • Derry News
  • Donegal Democrat
  • Donegal Post
  • Dundalk Democrat
  • Homes in Donegal
  • Inish Times
  • Kilkenny People
  • Leinster Express
  • Leinster Leader
  • Leitrim Observer
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Leader
  • Longford Leader
  • Mayo News
  • Midland Tribune
  • Tipperary Star
  • Tullamore Tribune

    • This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.

    © 2025 Iconic Media