Gardaí probe theft of rings worth €35k from OAP who was transporting them for jeweller on bus

On May 8, the woman dropped four rings worth €35,000 into a Dublin city jeweller to be cleaned. The high-end jewellery included her wedding and engagement rings as well as two other items which also contained rare stones.

The woman received a call the next day from the jeweller stating that her rings had been stolen on board a Dublin bus. She was informed a pensioner, later identified on CCTV, had used the bus to transport her jewellery to another premises in the city to be cleaned by a specialist. The robbery took place on the pensioner’s return journey.

The owner of the jewellery is understood to have had “no idea” her rings were to leave the premises she entrusted her goods to in order to be cleaned. It is understood she is “flabbergasted” that the items would be taken elsewhere and also that they would be transported on a bus by a pensioner, who appeared frail given his use of a walking aid.

Gardaí have obtained CCTV of the man on the bus and have taken a preliminary statement from him. The customer has also given gardaí a formal statement about the theft of her jewellery and outlined her concerns about its removal from the store she left it in to be cleaned.

The woman has now enlisted a solicitor, David Harrington, of Harringtons LLP, to file a legal action against the jewellers. Mr Harrington declined to comment when contacted.

A spokesman for Dublin Bus said: “At Dublin Bus, the safety and security of all our employees and customers remains our top priority. We work closely with An Garda Síochána to maintain a safe environment for everyone using our services.”