Thieves who stole defibrillator condemned

A ‘community defibrillator’, paid for with money raised by the local community, was stolen from the Spar on Irish Green Street in Limavady last night (June 1, 2016).

The defibrillator has since been returned, following its discovery on Main Street in Limavady by a passerby who handed the life-saving equipment over to the PSNI.

Diane McCurry, manager of the Spar, said: “It is something that the Spar group is trying to do throughout the country and shops who were interested in keeping one were sent fundraising packs.

“We had buckets at the tills and enough money was raised to pay for it so really it has been paid for by the community here in Limavady.

“It was when we came into the shop this morning that we discovered it had been stolen. It is an absolute disgrace because if someone had’ve needed it last night, it wouldn’t have been there.

“I don’t know who the person was who handed it over to the police but I would like to thank them for doing that.

“It is lucky that it was found by someone who had the sense to hand it over to the police.

“It sits outside our store and the whole idea is that it is there for people if they need it, even if the shop is closed. I can’t understand why anyone would steal something like this. It is a disgrace.”

DUP MLA George Robinson also condemned those responsible. He said: “That is life saving equipment that nobody should ever tamper with. Whoever took that must realise that they might need that at some stage, or a member of their family. I would hope that the culprits would be caught and properly dealt with by the courts. That is totally scandalous and I would utterly condemn it.

“I would certainly commend the person who found it for their swift action and for realising how vital that equipment is. In my opinion they did a very responsible thing in handing it over.”