Handbag stolen while woman was visiting a Limerick city centre church

GARDAI are investigating after a woman had her handbag stolen from her possession as she visited a Limerick city centre church.
Gardaí have confirmed that a woman in her thirties had her bag stolen in the church on Saturday, September 7, at 6:30pm.

“A woman in her late thirties put her handbag on a seat while she had a moment of prayer or maybe a moment of peace,” said Sergeant Ber Leetch, crime prevention officer at Henry St garda station.

“When she was ready to go, she realised that somebody had taken her bag. She immediately checked her bank account and she could see that two transactions had taken place on her bankcard.”

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Saying this is an example of “how quick criminals are”, Sgt Leetch advised members of the public to “keep anything of value on you at all times, even when you are in a church”.

Additionally, a number of car thefts have been reported in Limerick on the same weekend of September 7, which included one woman who had her car parked in Dooradoyle at 2pm on that day. 

At 4:30pm, the woman returned to discover that her children’s two tablets had been taken. Another car owner parked their car on Henry Street overnight. They discovered the following morning that their wallet was missing.

“They were busy and distracted and realised that they had not locked their car earlier,” said Sgt Leetch. 

“Lock your car, check that it is locked and leave nothing in the car that might attract the eye of a criminal.”

Two other cases where people did have their cars locked still had their vehicles broken into in Limerick. In both cases, cash and coins were left in plain sight. 

“A criminal smashed the car windows and took the money that has a total value of €16. The windows could cost between one and two hundred euro to repair,” said Sgt Leetch.

“Criminals do not care, they just want your money.”