Mean-spirited thieves steal presents

NOT quite the Grinch who stole Christmas, but the thieves who relieved a mother-of-three of her childrens’ festive spoils shared the same mean spirit.

Antoinette Muldoon, whose sons are aged nine, seven and four, returned to her brother’s van following a day of buying gifts to find her entire Christmas shopping gone.

However, management at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, where the van was parked, has denied thieves are targeting vehicles in its car park.

Ms Muldoon spent the day shopping for PlayStation games and Scalectrix. She left the presents, worth over €300, in the back of her brother’s van and went for something to eat.

The thieves swooped and stole not just the presents but also her brother’s carpentry tool kit worth €2,000.

Ms Muldoon also had presents for her nephews taken.

“We had been in Smyth’s and bought all the toys, put them in the back of the van and then went for something to eat,” said Antoinette following Thursday’s theft.

“We were away for a maximum of one hour.”

Gardaí patrolling the car park noticed the van door had been forced open and alerted Ms Muldoon and her brother on their return.

“But it was only when my brother got back to Kells that he checked the back and found everything had been stolen. It would have taken a couple of lads just a couple of minutes.”

Gardaí said up to 15 vans have been targeted in the Blanchardstown area recently. The same gang is thought to be responsible for the thefts and are more interested in stealing valuable tool kits.

“The presents were just a bonus for them, the guards believe,” Ms Muldoon said.

Gardaí believe a Traveller gang is responsible for the thefts. Raids are expected.

Pat Fitzgerald, Blanchardstown centre manager, said there has been not been a spate of thefts from vans in the car park at the country’s largest shopping centre.

“Oh God no, not at all” said Mr Fitzgerald. He knew of two thefts from vehicles in the last week, including the one on Thursday.

There has been an increase in garda patrols around the centre in recent weeks, with six to eight members on duty.

But Mr Fitzgerald believed that is for Operation Freeflow, the pre-Christmas traffic crackdown.