Two expensive bikes, including a specialist TT machine, were stolen by the intruders. They broke into a Dublin house while the family were at home and took their time looking for the bikes.
Dublin home burglary targeted expensive bikes
A triathlete has appealed for the return of his bikes which were stolen from his house while he was at home with his children.
Peter Murtagh was bathing his children upstairs as his bikes were being stolen from downstairs.
The robbery took place after the intruders broke windows and tried to force several doors open with a crow bar.
Incredible, though Murtagh and his wife and children – aged one and three years - were home at the time they did not hear the intruders.
The incident occurred at the Murtaghs home in Castleknock, west Dublin, at about 2pm last Saturday.
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A neighbour saw men around the house but assumed they were friends of the family. However, when they pulled up their hoods she became suspicious.
And her concern was confirmed when she spotted Peter Murtagh’s bikes being passed over his garden wall by one of the men to his accomplice.
The bikes stolen were a Cervelo P3 TT and Planet X Pro Carbon Road Bike. They have an approximate value of €7,500.
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He told stickybottle he had been left “very frustrated” by the robbery.
“One of the bikes was a high end time trial bike worth a lot of money. I was definitely targeted for that bike; they were after that bike and they managed to get two bikes.”
Murtagh also believes the bikes will be taken out of the country to the UK for resale now.
"They smashed two windows,” he said. “Then they tried to force the conservatory door off its hinges and they ended up smashing the glass there.
“They cracked another window and got the crowbar through a third window and reefed that off its hinges.”
He was amazed nobody in the house heard the raiders. Equally, he believed the robbery was brazen given the time of day and the fact his cars were outside and the lights and TV was turned on in the house.
“They had to have known we were home,” he said. "I came downstairs and (the robbery) was all going on in the back of the house.
“But they had been in the front porch and had taken a bike. They even tried to force the door of the kids' playroom with a crowbar.”
The first indication he had that the bikes were gone was noticing one of them missing from the porch.
He then ran outside and saw the raiders’ van, which was just pulling away. The back door of the van was open and his bikes were inside.
He ran after it as it drove towards Carpenterstown in the hope he may be able to get the bikes back if the van was caught in traffic.
While he was not successful in that regard, he got the registration of the van. He has supplied that, and a description of the vehicle, to the Garda and is hopeful of a positive outcome.
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