Were thieves Gaggin for a cuppa?

By Kieran O’Mahony

THE theft of over 200 items – including teabags and gluten-free cakes – donated for a local bazaar in Gaggin near Bandon, has been described as the ‘lowest form of rural crime.’ 

But against all the odds, people in the community rallied round in just a few hours to replace all the stolen items and showed the thieves that community spirit is alive and well.

‘It was the lowest form of rural crime really, as we hold this bazaar once a year to raise funds for the upkeep of the hall and to help with the cost of insurance and heating,’ said Kate Crowley, PRO of Gagging Community Association.

‘These thieves even took the tea bags out of the kitchen and the biscuits as well. It was just really low what they did. They also took over 40 bottles of spirits, 50 tins of biscuits and loads of other gift items that had been donated by people and local businesses in Bandon.’

The committee met in the hall last Thursday night to set up the hall for the bazaar the following night and they left the hall at 9.30pm that night with everything ready. 

It was only when a committee member called into the building the following morning that they discovered the hall had been cleared of all the items.

‘It seems that the thieves came in through a side window and they even threw out turf that was in big bags and used the bags to put all the donated items into. It was totally creepy what they did, and they even took Christmas cakes and our gluten-free cakes.’

With just hours to go before the bazaar, committee members got together and started putting out a fresh appeal on social media for items to be donated, including freshly baked goods.