'Mounties' and chopper help break up Navan incidents

The Garda Mounted Unit and the Garda Dog Unit were on patrol in Navan at the weekend in a bid to curb public order offences and assaults in the town. The early hours of Saturday and Sunday mornings have been identified by Gardai as peak times for public order offences and assaults and the mounted unit and dog unit supported local Gardai last weekend, creating a high visibility presence in the centre of the town. The Garda Air Support Unit also was in the air over the town on Friday night. Suprintendent Michael Devine recently told a meeting of the Joint Policing Committee that 29 per cent of all assaults recorded in the town occur between 1am and 4am on Sunday mornings. Of the 210 assaults recorded from 1st January 2008 to 31st March 2010, 72 occurred in the area of Bridge Street, Ludlow Street, Market Square, Kennedy Road and Johnstown. The number of assaults have dropped from 132 in 2008 to 64 in 2009, while there were 14 assaults so far this year up to end of March, and the exercise last weekend was aimed to further reduce incidents of assault and to curb public order offences. Sergeant Ronan Farrelly of Navan Garda Station explained that Friday and Saturday nights in the town had been identified as peak times for public order and assaults. "Friday and Saturday nights have been identified in the town as hotspots for public order. This is another angle to help deal with it and make sure people don't step out of line," said Sgt Farrelly. The Garda helicopter was involved in an incident at Clusker Park on Friday night where a large group of youths had congregated drinking. There was resistance from the group as Gardai tried to move them on. The helicopter's infra-red cameras filmed the incident and two people were arrested. On Saturday night, the Garda Mounted Unit was involved in breaking up two separate rows at Bridge Street at around 3am. On-the-spot fines for public order offences were issued to two males.