Ireland tops European crime rates table

Irish citizens are the most likely to be victims of crimes such as theft, sexual attack and burglary, according to a new survey conducted across Europe.

The European Commission study, yet to be published but leaked to the Sunday Times, questioned 2000 people across the 15 old member states plus Poland, Estonia and Hungary of the ten new countries that joined the bloc in 2004.

The report suggests that Ireland and Belgium are the only two countries where the ten most common crimes r...