Gardaí step up effort to nab Peeping Tom

February 1988

A ‘Peeping Tom’ is on the prowl in Mulgannon, peering through windows and ringing doorbells in the middle of the night.

His nightly visits to the area began several weeks ago, according to residents who are continually being disturbed by the sound of footsteps around their houses.

Gardaí were alerted last week when a 14-yearold girl looked out the window of her bedroom and spotted the intruder climbing over a balcony at the back of the house.

A search was carried out, but the Peeping Tom had already made his escape.

The girl is now afraid to stay on her own in the house, according to her father. ‘I have to check the bedroom every night before she goes up. And she won’t go upstairs on her own,’ he said.

‘ This fellow might be harmless, but then again you never know, and he might not be either,’ he added.

A middle-aged resident has moved out of a nearby bungalow where she lived alone after spotting the man running away from another house.

She is frightened to stay on her own and has moved in with her brother until the Peeping Tom is caught.

Other women in Mulgannon are also concerned about the nightly intrusions and now think twice about walking alone in the area when it is dark.

So far, the Peeping Tom has limited his movements to the upper end of Mulgannon, which provides easy access and escape through surrounding fields.

His visits began before Christmas, when another incident was reported to Gardaí by a worried mother.

Her daughter had heard the family dog barking and she spotted a man running out the gate when she went to let the dog out.

A spokesman for the Gardaí in Wexford said they would be carrying out spot patrols around Mulgannon in an attempt to catch the culprit.