NINE MURDERS recorded in Ireland in the first nine months of 2012 were carried out by offenders who are suspected to have been on bail at the time of the attack, new figures have shown.
Data released by the Department of Justice shows that a total of 52 murders have been committed since 2007 by individuals who have been on bail from the penal system.
In addition, one manslaughter was committed by someone on bail, as were 17 sexual offences – including seven sexual assaults, six rapes and two defilements of someone under the age of 17.
The data was compiled in response to a parliamentary question from Fine Gael backbencher Bernard Durkan.
The figures – which reflect crimes from the beginning of 2007 to the end of September last year – showed that the number of crimes committed by people out on bail in 2012 as a whole was likely to fall to its lowest for several years.
A total of 16,812 crimes were committed by people out on bail in the first three quarters of 2012. If that figure continued at the same rate for the final quarter, the annual figure would stand at 22,416 – the lowest figure for any year for which data was supplied.
In 2008, 29,564 crimes were committed by prisoners on bail; for 2011 the figure stood at 24,482.
The figures for the first three quarters of 2012 include 4,329 offences while in custody or breach of a court order – by far the most common type of offence.
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