Gardaí to investigate robbery at Wexford charity shop after family of five overwhelm shop assistant

 • 1h ago

Wexford Gardaí are investigating an incident which saw around €600 worth of stock stolen from a Wexford charity shop after a family of five overwhelmed an elderly volunteer shop assistant.

The Wexford People Helping People (WPHP) charity shop on Anne Street was targeted by the family of four, which included children, who made off with printed t-shirts and balloons from a store room at the rear of the shop.

“Basically, this family came in and gave the appearance of regular shoppers,” WPHP founder Claire Malone explained. “They purchased items to the value of €15 before they starting pestering the shop assistant about what was in the back.

“They used the language barrier as an excuse and said that they didn’t understand, but then made their way into the back and started pulling stuff around. The shop assistant was completely overwhelmed and rang me to come down, but they were gone by the time I got there.”

They left with around €400 worth of t-shirts that had been printed up for Pride and other events, as well as €200 worth of balloons which were passed to the children.

“Our shop assistant explained that they were not for sale and the woman shouted back that her husband had already paid and they walked out,” Claire said. “We’ve reported the matter to gardaí and they are looking into it at the moment. I’ve heard anecdotally that other businesses along the main street may have had similar incidents on the same day.

“It’s just so disappointing,” she concluded. “If these people were in genuine need, we could’ve helped them had they just asked. They went out of their way to move bikes and bags to take these items, which is maddening.”

Wexford Gardaí are looking into the matter, which took place on Tuesday afternoon, June 6, at the Anne Street store. Anyone with details can contact Wexford Garda Station on 053 916 5200.