‘A NEW LOW BY THIEVES’

Vital equipment robbed from Sligo Leitrim Mountain Rescue base

HEARTLESS thieves broke into the Sligo Leitrim Mountain Rescue base on Good Friday and stole thousands of euro worth of life-saving equipment, including all of their torches.

The rescue team has been left reeling after they discovered the break-in at their base beside the old Sligo Gaol behind Sligo County Council buildings on Riverside on Saturday morning.

The base was completely ransacked and €3,500 worth of equipment was stolen.

“It’s a new low. I don’t think we would have seen anything like that in the past whereby people have no regard whatsoever for the safety of the public,” said SLMR spokesperson Alan Sayers.

The team has taken immediate steps to secure their base and have identified the thieves’ route into and out of the yard.

“We know that they came in from the Governor’s House end, there’s a low wall and they stole a County Council ladder and wheelbarrow to get over the wall. Having gained entry into the yard the thieves broke in our door and also the nearby Civil Defence door,” he said.

The base was thoroughly ransacked and an estimated €3,500 worth of equipment was stolen, including a number of jackets, backpacks and, devastatingly, all of their new LED torches bought only a month ago.

“It’s a rotten blow. We put an awful lot of work into the base – we only hosted a national conference there a few weeks ago,” Alan told The Sligo Champion.

“It was a professional enough job – the Gardaí say they left no forensics. Their route was well planned but we recovered the ladder and the wheelbarrow along the route of their escape,” he said.