Booze has been blamed for being behind 105,000 crimes committed in Northern Ireland over the past five years – a “devastating” indictment which one local MLA has said is a drain on public finances.
Newry and Armagh DUP Assemblyman Gareth Wilson has spoken of his concern following a response from the Justice Minister to a written question on the number of crimes where alcohol was seen as an aggravating factor.
Over the past five years, the total number of offences has ranged from 17,277 in 2020/21, to 19,870 in the past financial year. The number spiked in 2022/23, when 23,905 incidents were listed as being alcohol-related.
The most common offences involving alcohol were ‘crimes against the person’, with 11,793 in 2020/2021, and 13,986 in the past year. Again, the highest rates of the past five years fell in 2022/2023, with 17,149 offences recorded.
Sexual offences also peaked in the mid five year period, with 834, with 735 in the past financial year.
Criminal damage driven by alcohol was also at its greatest in 2022/23, with 1,956 offences; this dropped slightly the following year and again in 2024/2025, decreasing to 1,809.
Drug offences ranged from 478 in 2020/2021 to the most recent figure of 430, the largest record coming in 2021/2022, at 488.
Possession of weapons in public places, again where alcohol was involved, peaked at 317 in 2023/2024, dropping by 19 to 291 in the most recent year’s statistics.
Public order offences fuelled by alcohol appear to show a slight decline year on year, from 147 in 2020/21 to 113 in the past year.
Other miscellaneous crimes against society were also at their lowest in five years in 2024/25, sitting at 323. The highest in the five-year period considered came in 2022/2023, when 389 were recorded.
The total number of crimes linked to alcohol in Northern Ireland over the past five years sits at 105,977.
Considering the figures, Mr Wilson has voiced his concerns over the numbers presented and said it represented a devastatng trend that was “harming health and draining public finances”.
He added: “This is concerning and represents a devastating trend, a huge impact on wellbeing and also a considerable impact on public finances.
“I really do feel that this matter warrants much greater investigation and departmental collaboration to try and work out just how much this criminality collectively costs and also what the measurable impact is on wellbeing.
“There is of course the obvious resource implication of the policing and justice response to 100,000 crimes in five years. It isn’t a stretch of the imagination to suggest that, if attitudes towards the use of alcohol were improved, to the point where excessive use of alcohol was reduced, this would to an appreciable extent reduce the levels of crimes committed.
“When looking at the statistics for crimes against the person, there is clearly a victim in each single incident and most probably a route into the healthcare system for support and recovery.
“In successful prosecutions there is a stay in prison or other justice outcomes, again representing significant resource use.”
Mr Wilson said he had asked for further detail on associated costs from the Justice Minister and would await the additional information with interest.
“This matter must be given urgent consideration, especially in light of the budgetary pressures across all departments,” he added.
“Better collaboration departmentally, along with a more responsible attitude to alcohol by the public, would ultimately create greater wellbeing and a lessening of pressure on resources, not only in policing and justice but across multiple sectors of governments.”
