Gardai urge public to check on holiday homes after burglaries

LOCAL gardai have called for holiday homeowners – and especially caretakers – to check their houses, following a spate of robberies from properties in the Skibbereen area.

Two homes in Tragumna, and another two in Castletownshend, were targeted this month, and a number of items taken.

Two men were arrested on charges emanating from some of the incidents, and appeared in Bantry court his week.

Two houses at Bawnlahan in Tragumna were broken into between February 8th and 10th, and items including a TV, coffee maker and binoculars, were taken from one house. A second house was ransacked.

Between February 19th and 20th, a house in Castletownshend had an outboard motor taken from an outhouse, while a garden strimmer, several bottles of wine, and a ride-on John Deere lawnmower were taken from another house in the area, between February 17th and 18th.

Crime prevention officer Ian O’Callaghan pointed out that the gardai were satisfied that the incidents were an unusual spike in crime, which were not reflective of the overall downward trend in crime in West Cork.

Meanwhile, Muintir na Tire, in conjunction with community groups on the Mizen peninsula, and the gardai, have launched an ID property marking intiative. 

It allows the public to mark valuable property – from marine engines, to farm equipment, and even laptops, cameras and phones – with the owner’s postcode. This helps prevent theft, and also increases the chances of retrieval in the event of theft.

The marking scheme was unveiled to a packed room at Schull Harbour Hotel last Sunday afternoon, as the equipment was shown to the public.