Over 1,000 drugs cases investigated in a year

MORE than 1,000 incidents of drugs possession were investigated by the PSNI during the past year in the three council areas covering Tyrone.

The latest crime statistics show that all three of the policing districts locally – Fermanagh and Omagh, Mid-Ulster and Derry City and Strabane – had an increase in the number of people being apprehended for having drugs.

Derry City and Strabane showed the largest rise from 615 to 823 incidents, while there was a jump from 256 to 303 in Fermanagh and Omagh and 412 to 485 in Mid Ulster.

Covering the period from December 2020 until November 2021, the statistics also indicated a fall in the
total number of crimes in Fermanagh and Omagh, a slight rise of just 0.9 per-cent in Mid Ulster and a 9.2 per cent jump in Derry City and Strabane.

Among the other stand-out statistics from the report was a rise in the number of incidents of violence with injury in Mid Ulster.

These rose from 687 to 706 in the 12-month period.

There was also a rise in the number of incidents of violence without injury in Fermanagh and Omagh, with the figures showing an increase of 17.7 per-cent from 673 to 719.

The numbers also rose in Derry City and Strabane – by 18.6 per-cent from 1,852 to 2,197.

Incidents of domestic violence rose slightly in Fermanagh and Omagh from 1,583 to 1,601 over the year, but fell by 248 in Mid Ulster and by 129 in Derry City and Strabane.

Incidents of harassment fell by 19.7 per-cent in Fermanagh and Omagh, where there was also a decrease of 26.8 per-cent in the incidents of burglary, which has been partly attributed to the fact that more people were at home during the day during the lockdown in the opening months of 2021.

The figures are compiled annually by the PSNI and the figures indicate that there were a total of almost 20,000 crimes dealt with in the three council areas covers Tyrone.