Man threatens donkey sanctuary owner as he tries to steal collection boxes 

The registered charity survives on donations and by running a tea shop at the farm.

On Tuesday night at about 8.30pm, a gang attempted to steal donation boxes in the car park of the sanctuary.

The terrifying ordeal began when Ms Curran came across a man after he was dropped off by other individuals in a white car. She confronted him and asked him what he was doing but he turned on her and told her he would assault her and that he would also smash up her phone.

The car sped off and the would-be thief managed to flee on foot.

Ms Curran, who was with her son, managed to get a video of the man who attempted to steal the donation boxes.

She alerted her husband Danny, who rushed to the scene.

The couple immediately contacted local gardaí.

Ms Curran said: “Around 8.30pm a white car dropped this individual off at the end of our road. He walked right up to our car park which is quite a distance and attempted to steal the collection tins at the car park.

“When confronted as to what he was doing he became very threatening and tried to stop me filming.

“As I followed him down the road the car sped off, leaving him behind and he threatened me again by coming right up to me.”

She said she was very shaken at that stage and had no choice but to watch him walk away.

“We are just devastated by this experience and cannot believe that something like this can happen at 8.30pm on a quiet summer evening.

What sort of person tries to steal from an animal sanctuary? Just devastating.

Mr Curran said: “It’s pretty low trying to steal a few coins from a collection box but the main thing is that nobody was hurt but Sandra certainly got a fright.”

A Garda spokesperson said inquiries into the incident were ongoing.