Gardaí have confirmed last night they have recovered all of the money that was stolen from a 83 year old Dublin woman Kathleen Byrne in a heartless con earlier this week.
Mrs Byrne was horribly tricked into handing over €3,000 to a gang of thugs after they made her believe that she needed urgent repair work done to the the roof of her home. Mrs Byrne willingly handed over the money to the group of men believing the work would be carried out but the ruthless conmen disappeared with the large sum.
Mrs Byrne’s tragic story was brought to the public’s attention this week after she was interviewed on RTÉ’s Liveline Show by host Joe Duffy who labeled the thief’s as “bad bad bastards”(apologies for the language), however the appalling scam soon touched the hearts of the nation who then inundated the show with calls wishing to donate cash to help Mrs Byrne. The public’s response was so overwhelming Mrs Byrne quickly received all of her money back through generous donations.
Although the despicable thief’s who are understood to have been three men were arrested yesterday afternoon and were interviewed by Gardaí investigating the incident. Gradai released a statement late last night saying that all of Mrs Byrne’s money had been recovered. They also say that a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.