Juveniles arrested following theft of bikes worth €25,000 from UL
GARDAÍ have confirmed that a number of juveniles have been arrested after €25,000 worth of bikes were stolen from the University of Limerick campus.
Superintendent Aileen Magner told a meeting of the Limerick Joint Policing Committee (JPC) meeting that gardaí set up Operation Rothar in UL after more than 50 bikes were stolen in the space of two months.
“This concentrated on the areas where bikes were stored there and ending on December 1, it was extremely successful, leading to a number of suspects, all underage individuals,” Supt Magner said.
She told the meeting that since the juveniles were brought to court in November, only four bicycles have been stolen from the grounds of the university.
Supt Magner stressed that most of the bikes stolen by “opportunistic thieves” had locks that were simply not robust enough, adding that property marking is invaluable particularly for student bike owners and staff who “study and work hard for a living.
Cllr Conor Sheehan (Labour) asked how many of the stolen bikes were returned and if the gardaí in Limerick were aware of any incidents involving thieves using angle grinders to gain access to safe bike storage spaces on the campus.
There have been no reported incidents of angle grinders being used to target bike shed areas in Limerick, Supt Magner responded, adding that the return rate for these bikes is “unfortunately very low.”
“A lot of the bikes stolen are not your high nellys, they are very expensive, and these criminals know that there is a very high resale on them,” Supt Magner stated.
She also said that looking at the age profile of the offenders identified in Operation Rothar many will be dealt with appropriately as “children” through either the juvenile or courts system.