Petrol station fuel theft ‘drive offs’ on the rise in the county

SERIVCE stations along the N7 motorway are a main area where fuel theft is occurring in the county.

Drive offs at service stations are on the increase, and senior gardai are meeting this week with service operators in an effort to address the problem.

Gardai have previously reported cars using cloned number plates or false number plates at petrol stations.

In the Tallaght policing district, Superintendent Tomás Gormley estimates “90 per cent” of ‘theft other’ cases in policing crime statistics for the year ending 2022, are fuel thefts.

There were 847 cases of ‘theft other’ in the Tallaght area last year, and 174 incidents in the Rathfarnham area.

At the JPC Policing Meeting this week, Supt Gormley said gardai are working with service providers to ascertain why the problem is occurring at the rate it is.

“Why there is an issue and what they are doing themselves on the forecourt before it becomes a crime,” said Supt Gormley.

“From a financial perspective, petrol prices and diesel prices were at an all time high, that may have been a contributor.”

However, service stations themselves have to bear responsibility for how they are responding to this problem, and “up their game”, according to Clondalkin Superintendent Anthony Twomey.

“It’s not fully the responsibility of the guards to stop these crimes happening. Where there is a commercial element, the operator has to show significant effort in trying to mitigate against these things,” said Supt Twomey.

“It can’t all be falling back on AGS, and I will be meeting with the operators of petrol stations along the N7, because that is the main area of fuel theft, in inverted commas, that is happening. I’m meeting them next week in terms of recommendations and asking them how are they going to deal with it better. Hopefully something positive will come out of that.”

Supt Twomey’s understanding of previous cases is that some people “inadvertently forget to pay” for fuel at service stations, where there is a number of different commercial outlets.

“That happens in a significant number of cases,” he said.

“There is a commercial element to this. We are liasing with management in these places and looking to see what they are doing to up their game.”