ALMOST half of shop owners say they have been the victims of violent criminals over the past year. One in five say criminals have returned to raid their shops up to five times over this period.
These are some of the findings of a survey of 2,000 shop owners by the Retail Grocery, Dairy and Allied Trades Association (RGDATA), which represents family owned supermarkets, convenience stores and forecourt shops.
Retailers said the law and order situation had deteriorated since the previous survey in May 1995. They blamed the Government most for the lack of law and order and said they would give the issue "high priority" in the next election. They said the Garda was least to blame.
The survey found that 57 per cent of shops experienced crime in the past 12 months. Forty two per cent of the incidents involved serious violence against shopowners, customers and staff.
One in five shop owners had been attacked twice in the year and a further 33 per cent had been attacked more than twice. Almost half of those exposed to violent or non violent crime also suffered damage to equipment or premises. In 38 per cent of the cases, customers were present during the raids.
Cigarettes were stolen in almost a third of all raids, while cash was taken in 42 per cent of them. In almost three quarters of cases, gardai arrived at the scene within 20 minutes and close to one third of those surveyed said they felt their incident had been treated seriously by the Garda.
Ninety seven per cent felt they had fewer rights than criminals and supported a tightening of the bail laws.
KUDAIA director general Mr Michael Campbell said its members were "under siege and the situation has now become ominous. It's outrageous that any sector of society should be subjected to such a sustained and violent level of crime and for the Government to allow it to occur."
He said the support of members for the tightening of the bail laws showed the extent of their "frustration" with the existing legal system.
But he said changing the bail laws alone would not tackle crime effectively. At least 500 prison spaces, consistency in sentencing and additional judges were needed, he added. He urged the Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, to end the open illegal selling of cigarettes on Dublin's streets and to bring forward a comprehensive package to solve crime.