Residents warned after thieves target 30 houses in single town

Gardaí are on the trail of sneak thieves responsible for upwards of 30 break-ins in a Kerry town in recent months.

The thieves, believed to be local criminals, managed to access houses in Killarney through unlocked doors and opened windows, sometimes when the occupants were at home.

“The pattern is much the same in all the entries to houses and they get in and out doing little or no damage,” a Garda spokesman said.

Cash and electronic equipment, including computers, are being targeted.

In one instance, the thieves also took car keys from a house and drove off in the owner’s vehicle.

The latest incident, 10 days ago, was at a house on the Rock Rd and took place at between midnight and 2am, during which an iPad, a small sum of money, and a computer were taken. The residents were at home at the time, but did not discover the burglary until they got up in the morning.

“These are really opportunistic thieves who go around looking for houses that are easy to get into,” said the Garda spokesman.

“The best advice we can give to people is to ensure all doors and windows are firmly secured at night.”

Some arrests have been made and gardaí are following a number of lines of inquiry, with court appearances expected.

In addition, people walking in Killarney National Park are being urged to ensure no valuables or cash are left exposed in their parked cars.

This follows yet another break-in of a car in the vicinity of the park. People who went for a walk in the park left a handbag on one of the seats. Thieves broke a window in the car, on the Port Rd, and took cash from the handbag.

Meanwhile, gardaí in Tralee are hoping CCTV footage will assist in identifying thieves who took goods from a local shop, in the Square, on Oct 23 along with a money box from the Bank of Ireland branch, some time later.

CCTV cameras captured images of the man and a definite line of inquiry is being followed.