Bungling burglar hugged householder before fleeing

A BUNGLING burglar, who got stuck in a wardrobe and then struggled to escape the house, hugged the householder when she helped him get away.

A woman in her 20s was watching TV alone at Lord Edward Street when she heard a noise from upstairs at around 10pm.

There she traced the sound to a wardrobe in her bedroom. She opened the door and discovered a teenager in a hoodie, said Sgt Seamus O’Neill.

She screamed at him and slammed the door of the wardrobe into his face several times.

He kept shouting: “Please just let me out.”

The youth made a run for it down the stairs chased by the woman who rained blows on him.

The front door was locked so he had to plead with her to let him go.

When the woman opened the door for him he was about to flee into the night but he first put his arms around the woman and hugged her for allowing him go free.

Sgt Seamus O’Neill said they are looking for the youth who is about 16 and of thin build. He also smelt of alcohol.

Any information should be relayed to Roxboro Road Garda station at 061 214340.

It hasn’t been a good time for Limerick robbers — a young man wearing a balaclava and carrying an imitation gun was frightened from a bar last month when a pensioner having a morning pint told himto “f**** off’’.

This raider was traced as he drove his own car, with its licence plates.