Callous thieves target cars of hero frontline medical staff

STAFF at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin are being targeted by thieves while they are heroically working on the frontline against Covid-19.

The valuable catalytic converters on their cars are being stolen from vehicles in the staff car park.

It is believed that thieves steal the car part, which is part of the exhaust system, as the metal in them can be sold for a high price.

It means the victims are being left with ‘write-off’ cars when they finish a long shift helping patients.

According to one doctor in Beaumont Hospital, a man was spotted in the staff car park last week.

‘This is the guy who is taking catalytic converters from Beaumont staff car park,’ Dr Laura Durcan said in a series of now-deleted tweets.

‘I am livid.’ She later added: ‘It’s been weeks and it keeps happening. It’s horrendous. I feel so outraged that our staff are being targeted that I have to speak up.

‘It’s the older cars, and people who don’t have much money who are being targeted. Our interns are bogged down in student debt and I would love to see them enjoy their first pay cheque.’

Speaking to RTÉ’s Liveline, she detailed a number of incidents.

‘There are loads of signs [saying it is a staff car park]. One of the interns came up to me on the ward to say the catalytic converter and the exhaust had been taken [from his vehicle] and it outweighs the value of the car,’ she said.

A spokesperson for Beaumont said they have employed extra security guards to monitor the car park.