This article is from page 6 of the 2014-06-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
A LOCAL businessman has spoken of the “fright” his family felt after their home was broken into Ennis earlier this month. David Germaine and members of his family were asleep when their home at Brookville on the Lahinch Road was broken into in the early hours of Friday, June 13.
David and his wife Philomena were asleep when the thief walked into their bedroom and stole David’s phone.
“I had left it on the bedside locker. It was literally inches from my head. So whoever did it just came into the room and took it”, recalled David.
The thief also made of with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet 3 and a Sony Viaro Laptop. The loss of the laptop was a particular blow to the family as it contained precious family photographs. David is appealing for the laptop to be returned.
“The computer itself would be fair- ly old. Its pink in colour and a lot of the keys have been melted away..One of my daughters lived in Spain for a number of years and she has a lot of photographs stored on that computer from her time there. They mean an awful lot to her. She was absolutely devastated when she found out it had been stolen. You can replace the computer but you can’t replace what’s on it”, he explained.
David’s daughter Nicole has also issued an appeal through the social networking site, Facebook for the safe return of the laptop.
David, who runs a B&B at Brookville, said the break in left the family shocked.
“It is something that would frighten you. You would be a bit upset by it alright.
“My wife was very rattled by it. When something like this happens, when someone comes into your bedroom, you wonder what would’ve happened if you’d woken up”, he said.
Gardaí in Ennis are investigating the break in. It is though the thief gained access to the house through a downstairs sash window.
David, who also works as fisheries officer, said it took him some time to figure out the home had been broken into.
“I was expecting a call form someone at work. When I woke up I reached for my phone but couldn’t find it.
“So then I reached for my jeans but I couldn’t find them. I looked downstairs and saw them hanging on the banister at the bottom of the stairs”,
“My wife said she found them in the dining room. So I still couldn’t find the phone, so I went to get the laptop or the tablet to use Skype to make the call and I couldn’t find them. So I kind of worked it out then.
“He probably picked up the jeans but they started to rattle because of the belt so he took them downstairs”. Tue24June14