Cars, houses and petrol station suffer vandalism in Athboy

A further spate of vandalisim in Athboy at the weekend has led to local councillor Liz McCormack to call on the incoming Garda superintendent in the area to work with the Athboy Development Forum in their application for CCTV in the town.

At the weekend, one of the most serious incidents of vandalism took place in the town, when cars, houses and a petrol station were attacked in the Bridge Street, Trim and Kells road areas.

Petrol pumps at a service station, three cars on the street and windows of houses, one a county council owned house on the Kells Road, were damaged by a number of males who then attempted to escape from Gardai by crossing fields.

“Athboy is no longer a safe place at night time,” Colr McCormack stated. “While not wishing to be alarmist, people want to be able to live, work, and sleep in the knowledge that when they get up in the morning their property is not damaged.”

Recent incidents in the town include the breaking of windows in a public house on two occasions, the burning of a car at Newman's Mill, and a serious assault on a man. On one occasion recently, dozens of cars in the town were damaged by vandals under cover of darkness.

Athboy was awarded €5,000 to study the feasibility of applying for a community-based CCTV scheme, operated by the Department of Justice, and has two consultants working on this proposal, who will engage in public consultation.

The second stage of the application can secure up to €100,000 in funding for a scheme, and Colr McCormack says that the new Minister for Justice has already acknowledged that smaller communities, and not just the larger cities and towns, should benefit because of growing antisocial behaviour in all communities.

She wants the new superintendent in the Kells area to support the application and says that Athboy also needs a community garda based in the town.

“Athboy as a community has an excellent community development record through its various organisations and associations and we need to have a good competitive CCTV application in place - it is important to have a safe place to live, work and play,” Colr McCormack stated.

Gardai in Trim are also investigating a number of burglaries and thefts over the past week.

Power tools were taken from a shed at the Knightsbridge Retirement Village on the Longwood Road, between 4pm on Friday, 9th May and 9am on Tuesday, 13th May.

Gardai are also investigating the theft of a Honda ride-on lawnmower from a house in Rathmolyon Village which was taken on 12th May.

A ride-on lawnmower and two hedge cutters were stolen from a house at Castlegarden, Johnstownbridge, between 4pm on 9th May and 8am on 12th May.

Additionally, a van was broken into at Crois na Croi, Ballivor, and valuable power tools were stolen between 6.45pm and 7.30pm on 9th May, while a cement mixer was taken from a building site at Clarkestown, Summerhill, sometime between 8th and 9th May. Anyone with information on any of these incidents are asked to contact Trim Garda Station on (046) 9431222.

Trim Gardai arrested a total of five drink-drivers over the past week. Meanwhile, Kells Gardai are investigating a break-in at a shop in Carrick Street, Kells, which occured last Sunday. Entry to the property was gained through the roof and a small quantity of cash was taken.