Gardaí hunt for ‘hefty’ blonde

GARDAÍ in Co Limerick are still trying to locate a thief they officially described as “a hefty blonde lady”.

The tall female in her 20s displayed huge strength in what has been described as a brazen robbery in Abbeyfeale.

She pulled up outside “Moss the Farmer’s” Spar Shop on the Killarney Road when the store was busy with evening shoppers.

In front of staff and customers she then proceeded to lift four heavy bottles of gas and pitch them onto the roof rack on her car. She drove off without paying.

A spokesman said yesterday Abbeyfeale gardaí were still trying to identify the “hefty blonde”. He said: “We went through CCTV we got from the store and it was of very poor quality.

“All we got from it was that she was driving a green car which seemed to be a Toyota Avensis. We are still looking for her.”

Shop owner, James Harnett, said the CCTV cameras outside the shop showed she had driven past a few minutes earlier and travelled up a cul-de-sac before returning.

After parking about 20ft from where the bottled gas was located she lifted four full cylinders one by one.

He said: “She was gone so quickly that she had left before we realised she hadn’t paid for the gas. The cylinders cost over €30 each and the fill of gas about €30, so the total loss is about €240.”

A garda spokesman said: “She lifted the four drums onto the roof rack and then drove off without paying.

“It would have taken a considerable amount of effort and she must be a fairly strong person. She was there just a few minutes before driving off.”