Vigilance urged as elderly man is robbed of pension

Gardaí in Mullingar are appealing to members of the public to maintain a heightened awareness of their personal belongings, as an elderly man had a sum of cash stolen from him by deception over the bank holiday weekend.Gardaí said that the man, who had just claimed his pension in the town, was sitting in a vehicle in the car park outside Buckley's SuperValu, off Austin Friars' Street, when he was approached by a foreign national seeking spare change.The man then realised that his entire pension money for the week had gone missing.The incident took place between 11.30am and 12.05pm on Saturday last, August 1.Gardaí have appealed to people to pay increased attention to their belongings, if approached by anybody looking for spare change.Meanwhile, at 12.30am on Tuesday morning of this week, a woman had her purse stolen in the car park of Harbour Place Shopping Centre, Mullingar.It is understood that the woman was about to use an ATM, when her purse was stolen by a "sneak thief".On Friday last, July 31, a handbag was stolen from a childcare premises in the Grange area of Mullingar, sometime between 9.15am and 1.30pm.The handbag, which contained cash, belonged to a member of staff, and was taken from an office on the premises.The previous afternoon, Thursday, a private house was broken into in Multyfarnham, resulting in the theft of €120, sometime between 12.10pm and 3.15pm.Gardaí said that the burglars gained entry through a window at the side of the house; the building was unoccupied at the time.