At this week’s meeting of the Castlebar Joint Policing Committee Inspector Martin Byrne warned members of the public to make sure that they don’t leave valuables in their cars at night.
“We have noticed that there have been a number of thefts from cars over the past while at night time,” Inspector Byrne told the meeting. “People are leaving their cars unlocked at night and there are people going around checking cars and stealing from them. We are asking people to ensure that they lock their cars and don’t leave anything valuable in them.” He said the gardaí had a fair idea who is doing it and hope to see progress over the next short time.
Senator Paddy Burke asked the inspector if there was an increase in this type of crime and thefts in general over the past year. Inspector Byrne replied that there had been an overall increase of about 17 per cent in thefts in the area over the past year, but there had been a 27 per cent increase the year previously which was due to a gang who had been targeting the area, which gardaí had stopped after carrying out a number of arrests.
