Terrified woman hides in wardrobe while thieves ransack home

A householder in Claregalway was forced to hide in a wardrobe in fear of her life, when raiders broke into and ransacked her home.

The woman – in her mid-forties – was at home alone last Friday morning when three or four raiders called to the house at Cregboy and disabled the alarm.

Not realising the woman was inside, they broke into the house and stole around €3,500 worth of jewellery.

The terrified woman hid in a wardrobe while the raiders searched the house, and then made off in the Cregmore direction in a golden brown or silver/grey coloured saloon car – possibly a Volvo S40 or S60 – with false ’08 MH’ number plates.

The woman was shocked, but uninjured in the raid, as she was not discovered in the wardrobe.

It’s understood that none of the raiders wore balaclavas, but used scarves and baseball caps to hide their identities.

Gardaí have appealed for anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the area between 11am and 11.20am last Friday morning, or a car matching that description, to come forward.