Thieves are targeting jewellery as firms vie to buy gold

The rise in the number of companies offering to buy gold jewellery for cash, is believed to be part of the reason behind a surge in the rate of burglaries locally.With a ready market for gold jewellery, burglars are turning their backs on valuable electrical goods, such as tvs and laptops, and instead focusing their efforts on procuring gold, which they can sell on virtually immediately, as the gold-buying firms set up stalls in local towns, ready to buy gold on the spot.Sgt. John Connolly, Crime Prevention Office at Mullingar Garda Station, told the Westmeath Examiner this week that the two top items on any burglar's list have always been jewellery and cash."Jewellery and cash are both easy to conceal items and are easier to carry away from houses, so these two items are more favourable for thieves to steal," he said. "There is nothing illegal about the cash-for-gold type people, but I do have them on my list of people to speak to," he added.As reported in last week's Westmeath Examiner, five houses were burlged around Delvin while the town's St. Patrick's Day parade was in progress on Sunday week. This week, there have been further burglaries, which are currently under investigation by the Gardaí, including a further robbery at Delvin.Inside a half an hour, thieves got away with a small amount of jewellery and cash from a house in Ashfield, Mullingar on Wednesday last, after they had forced the front door open between 6pm and 6.30 p.m. while the house was just temporarily unoccupied.. On Friday, March 26, there was a further theft of cash and jewellery at a house at Balrath South, Delvin, after intruders forced open the front door some time between 10.30 in the morning and twelve noon. A granny flat on the Lynn Road, Mullingar was targeted on Sunday last, and after searching two bedrooms, burglars took a sum of money.A house at Manorfield, Kinnegad was broken into between 3 o'clock on March 24 and 12.30pm on March 25. A small amount of money and a laptop were taken.Sgt. Kieran Williams this week warned people to keep their valuable jewellery and cash in a safe if possible:"If there is a safe in the house, that's where people should keep their valuables. Failing that, keep them in the least accessible place for burglars to find, because the first place they will look is under the mattress and in cabinets," he said.Athletes bags targeted while trainingIn what seems to be another emerging trend, burglars are also targeting sports grounds whilst players are out on the field training. Gardaí are investigating a robbery which took place at the Loughnavalley GAA grounds on Tuesday, March 23 last, whilst members were in training.A large amount of cash, as well as credit cards, mobile phones and a driver's licence were taken from the bags of three players. It was reported that a maroon car was seen leaving the grounds at around the same time as the thefts occurred, which was between 8 and 8.30pm on Tuesday night.Staff in the public Swimming Pool in the Town Park, Mullingar are also keeping an eye out for culprits who have been raiding people's belongings for money and mobile phones whilst people are swimming.The Westmeath Examiner have also heard reports of those using a local school gym having money and mobile phones stolen while there was training underway.