Mean thieves who stole €5,000 from elderly woman in Dungarvan also suspected of Tipperary crimes

Gardai believe that a gang that stole €5,000 from an elderly woman in Dungarvan may be responsible for similar style crimes in Clonmel and Carrick on Suir.

The mean thieves, believed to be eastern European, stole the money from the 73-old woman after she had just taken it from a bank to pay for her brother's funeral.

Detectives believe the gang - comprised of two men and two women in their 20s or 30s - are responsible for a number of distraction-style thefts in Waterford, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Dublin and Wexford over the past month.

They believe the Tipperary towns targetted include Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir.

In the Dungarvan incident, it is believed that the woman was seen in the bank withdrawing the money and was then followed by a young woman as she left.

She was stopped on the street by a man asking directions and showing her a map.

When she told him that it was a map of England and not Ireland, he moved away.

It was then she noticed that the money was missing from her handbag.

Her 79-year-old had been buried just four days before the cash was stolen in the theft.

Gardaí have appealed for anyone with information to contact Dungarvan gardaí on (058) 48600.