Cork woman appeals to thieves to return sentimental items after car stolen from driveway

Pictured here is Emma Murphy's red Volkswagen Polo with the reg 09 C 7772

A Cork woman has appealed to the public to get back sentimental items that belong to her mother who is currently in hospice and her late sister after her car was stolen from her home.

Emma Murphy woke up on Tuesday morning to find that her car was no longer sitting in her driveway at her home on Model Farm Road.

She had driven home from Marymount Hospice after visiting her mother Mary, on Monday night and thinks that her red Volkswagen Polo, with the Reg 09 C 7772, was taken in a short period of time.

Emma has said it has been a heartbreaking time, with her mother in hospital and having her car stolen which contained some “valuable possessions” of her mother and her late sister, Sheena.

She said she forgives the car thieves for stealing her car but is asking them to return the items that were in the car.

“My mom is at Marymount at the moment, she’s quite ill and she’s deteriorating rapidly,” she told PJ Coogan’s The Opinion Line on Wednesday.

Emma said her mother, who has cancer, asked her to bring over a bag of some of her "valuable possessions" which includes a “long, green fun coat”, a scarf, her favourite runners, a jumper, and tracksuit pants which were “stuff she really enjoyed wearing.” 

Emma had also put her mother’s rosary beads into the bag with some of her late sister’s photos and medals to “mind her and keep her safe.” Her sister, Sheena, passed away five years ago from breast cancer. A bottle of Britney Spears perfume, which reminded Emma of her sister, was also put into the bag.

However, as Emma got to Marymount she forgot to take the bag in with her and forgot to take it back to her house after she got home on Monday night.

After waking up the next morning and not seeing her car in the driveway, her first thought was whether her car had rolled down the hill.

It was later that she realised that her car was stolen and she immediately thought about the bag that contained her mother’s and late sister’s items – not about her car.

Emma said the gardaí are involved with the case but she is now appealing to the car thieves, or someone who knows anything about the theft to return whatever was in her car.

“I would like just ask you, you can take my car, but whatever is inside my car, I would love that back,” she said.

“I would absolutely hold no grudge against you, I forgive you for what you did. But if you return what is in the car, I would be eternally grateful, you’d make all of this easier.”

A Garda spokesperson told the Irish Examiner they are "investigating the unauthorised taking of a car from outside a domestic residence on Model Farm Road, Cork city which was reported yesterday (Tuesday)." 

"Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson added.