THE Portadown home of Craigavon Borough Council member Brian McKeown and his elderly mother Anne was robbed at the weekend.
Thieves stole mainly gold and money from the Garvaghy Gardens property, although they also made off with a brand new ironing board and two bottles of cooking oil.
The thieves smashed their way in through a kitchen window and ransacked the house be
fore making off with the valuables.
It happened on Friday night when Mrs McKeown was out at a bingo session and her son was visiting friends.
“I’m glad my mother wasn’t at home on her own,” said the Sinn Fein councillor. “She’d have been frightened out of her wits.”
A gold watch which Mrs McKeown was given as a present many years ago was taken, as well as bracelets and other valuables.
stealing
Mr McKeown said, “I believe it’s as a result of all these TV ads calling for people to send their gold. Thieves are obviously stealing gold and sending it.”
He added he had reported the incident to the police and to local jewellery outlets. “But these TV ads don’t ask for any identity and the items are easily disposed of,” he continued. “I don’t understand why they targeted the ironing board and cooking oil, but there it is.”
Meanwhile Mr McKeown’s Sinn Fein colleague Mairead O’Dowd, who is chair of the Craigavon Policing Partnership, has called on everyone to be alert to burglaries on the run-up to Christmas.
“All householders should ensure that they lock doors and windows and leave a light on in the house,” she added. “These thieves must be stopped before someone is seriously injured. Obviously theft is their main motivation, but sooner or later they are going to be surprised in the act and could hit out at householders, especially the elderly with serious or fatal results.”
She added that anyone with information on any robberies should contact the PSNI.
