Two-thirds of all crime in Dublin is committed by drug addicts, but they are rarely involved in seriously violent offences, rape or fraud. Their crimes are needed to pay for heroin consumption which Garda statistics suggest is worth around £29 million per annum.
The research, built on information supplied by all 42 Garda stations in the Dublin Metropolitan Area (DMA) and compiled by Sgt Eamonn Keogh of the Garda Research Unit, has provided the force with its first clear picture of the criminal activity associated with drug addicts in the city.
Figures supplied by the stations showed that 43 per cent of indicted criminals in Dublin were addicted to drugs. This group was responsible for 66 per cent of the 19,046 crimes committed in the city during 1996.
The worst single offender detected by gardai was a heroin addict responsible for 147 crimes. The worst "non-drug addict" was responsible only for 33 crimes. The youngest drug addict coming to the notice of gardai was aged 12. The oldest arrested was 61.
The Garda survey estimated there were 4,105 heroin addicts in the city and at any time around 2,800 of these were seeking money, frequently through criminal activity, to buy drugs.
The report breaks down the income sources of drug addicts. Their "legitimate" income comes mainly from social welfare payments and Health Board supplements, providing an average total of around £4,100 a year. Addicts also tended to receive support from families, who provided food and lodging.
Illegal sources of income were from drug dealing, which averaged £200 a week. Women addicts who work as prostitutes make an average of £500 a week. The average income from illegal sources was also around £4,100 a year.
The Garda analysis suggested that just under half the money raised from theft of property in Dublin was spent on heroin. The gardai estimated that around £43 million worth of goods were stolen by Dublin criminals in 1996 and that these goods were sold at an average of onethird their actual value. Around £6 million of the money raised by the crimes was spent on making up the short-fall between money acquired in other ways by addicts and the cost of their addiction.
While the addicts admitted being responsible for the majority of non-violent crimes - burglaries, unarmed robberies, muggings, larcenies from people, cars or shops - they were much less likely to admit being involved in crimes involving weapons or the threat of serious violence.
However, the gardai who compiled the report point out that addicts were highly unlikely to admit their involvement in serious offences, such as using blood-filled syringes in robberies.
The statistics i would suggest that only 28 per cent of armed robberies were carried out by drug addicts. Heroin users, whose main interest was feeding their addiction, were less likely to be involved in sexual assaults. The figures compiled by the gardai suggest only 17 per cent of sexual offences were committed by addicts.
Only two of the nine people convicted of murder during the year were drug addicts, while 22 per cent of those convicted of assault were addicted. The survey produced a social picture of drug addicts showing that 91 per cent left school before they were aged 16, mostly without any qualifications. Half of them first tried drugs before they were 17. Just under half of the addicts had dependent children.
Most were introduced to drugs by friends. Most started off by using soft drugs but about a third went straight on to heroin.
According to answers given to Garda questionnaires, most addicts said it became harder to obtain drugs during 1996 mainly as a result of vigilantes but also because of increased Garda activity.