A POTENTIALLY LIFE-saving defibrillator that was stolen from outside a shop in Drogheda, Co Louth has been found.

It was stolen on Friday night from outside the Village Store in Aston Village, Drogheda.

The theft by two young men was captured on CCTV footage that has been given to the gardaí.

Local resident Kenneth Flood confirmed this morning that it had been found.

He said it was discovered “this morning in Redshank Court. It wasn’t there yesterday so it was brought back and dumped.”

Locals had searched for the device over the weekend; twelve local residents, including staff at the nearby Aston Village Educate Together primary school had been trained as first responders and were able to use it.

Flood, who paid for the device during his time as a councillor, said that the Order of Malta will check the AED to see if it is okay to use.

Over the weekend a funding page was set up to pay for a replacement.

Flood confirmed this morning that Sinn Féin councillors have agreed to cover the costs of replacing it or repairing it from their community allocation funds.

It was one of two defibrillators stolen over the weekend, the other was taken in Wicklow.

In a statement on its Facebook page today, Community First Responders (CFR) Wicklow Town confirmed that a defibrillator had been found over the weekend. 

It said that the defibrillator had been damaged and that the LED screen had been smashed. 

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“We will likely send off [the] machine for testing and see if it can be fixed, but highly unlikely,” the group said.

Gardaí have confirmed that they are investigating both thefts. 

No arrests have been made with regard to either case.

With reporting by Hayley Halpin