Angle grinder used in latest break-in

Roscommon Gardaí are investigating more brazen burglaries in the county over the weekend.

Elphin Mart was targeted by a criminal gang in the early hours of Sunday morning, where significant damage was caused, and it is understood that a local creche was also broken in to.

Gardaí said that the break in at the mart happened in the early hours of Sunday morning, September 15th. They are investigating stolen property and criminal damage. No arrests have been made at this time.

Mart manager Ciaran Lynch said that the incident happened around 2.30 a.m. on the Sunday morning.

“Three men seem to have entered the mart premises. They did a lot of damage, to doors, phones, they broke everything. They cut a steel door out with an angle grinder. They were looking for cash,” he said.

He said hundreds of euro worth of damage was caused, “but they didn’t take that much, a bit of petty cash”.

Mr Lynch said that the crime was discovered later that morning and the Gardaí were called. Despite the damage caused by the criminals, the mart did not let the incident get in the way of its sale yesterday, which continued as normal.

Mr Lynch urged people with any information to contact local Gardaí “straight away”.

It is also understood that a nearby creche was also targeted. It is not clear whether anything was taken from the premises.

Cllr Sean Moylan said these latest crimes were sickening and shocking.

“I have a motion before the next meeting of Roscommon County Council, calling for a complete review of the policing policy within the county. We need high visibility check points at night until these people are caught or these crimes are stopped.

“The Gardaí are all being centralised in the bigger stations, you’d rarely see a Garda in the smaller stations,” he said. “I am calling for the opening hours of smaller stations like Tulsk and Elphin to be extended.”