This article is from page 4 of the 2013-03-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
DRIVING disqualification orders have become one of the main strategies employed by gardaí in the effort to prevent crime in Clare.
People convicted in Clare courts are facing the prospect of losing their license if it is found they used a car in the commission of an offence.
Chief Superintendent of the Clare Garda Division, John Kerin said last week that the gardaí are now requesting judges to make disqualification orders on conviction.
However, Mr Kerin warned that many are choosing to ignore the orders. He explained, “In virtually every case we have here in Clare where a person is convicted of a crime and they use a car or a van, the Inspec- tors or Supers that are in court, on the conviction, are asking the judge (to disqualify from holding a license) and the judge is automatically making the disqualification order.
“But I can honestly say as well that most of those people who are disqualified will be driving another car the next night and we’ll have them in court again the next day for driving while disqualified.”
He continued, “That’s happening time and time and time again. It’s not that easy to police. Those orders, they were being ignored for years, but they are now very much part of our everyday work. They are one of our strategies to reduce crime.”
Chief Supt Kerin was speaking at a discussion on crime and policing in Ennis last week. He was responding to comments from Jim Corbett, Chairperson of the Spancil Hill Community Alert.
Mr Corbett said that cars and vans have become “tools of the trade” for offenders committing burglaries in rural area.
He said that automatic disqualifications should be imposed in all cases where people use cars in the commission of burglaries.
Two men who convicted of a burglary in a rural area of Clare were last week were each disqualified from holding a driver’s license for a period of five years.
Judge Patrick Durcan said he was of the view that both defendants used the car as an aid in the commission of a serious offence. Judge Durcan remarked that burglaries have become “all too prevalent in rural Ireland.”
He said home burglaries have the effect of damaging rural Ireland by creating fear and suspicion.
In a separate case, Judge Durcan commented on that the fact that thieves and robbers now required people to store stolen property for them “adds a new dimension” to the crime of burglary in Clare.
Levels of crime have fallen by 33 per cent in Clare over the past five years. Burglaries in Clare are down 163 over the same period.
However, there were 364 break-ins in Clare last year.