GARDAÍ AT HENRY Street Station in Limerick have arrested and charged a teenage boy in relation to the theft of 14 bicycles in the city.

The bike thefts all occurred in the past three months. In the case of one of the bikes recovered, gardaí are trying to trace its owner.

The juvenile was arrested yesterday and is due to appear before Limerick City District Court this afternoon.

A campaign to encourage bike owners to “Lock it or Lose it” was recently launched by gardaí, with statistics showing around 14,000 bicycles stolen around the country since 2016.

Speaking from Henry Street, crime prevention officer Sergeant Ber Leech said: “I would ask everyone who cycles to lock their bikes as securely as possible.

A few simple tips such as; spending 10% to 20% of the value of the bike on two locks, locking your bike tightly to an immovable object and keep the lock off the ground, will make life difficult for the thief. Take a photo of your bike, note the serial number and email it back to yourself so you have a record of it.

Leech also said there was a trend of not reporting the theft of bikes to gardaí, which is makes it difficult to reunite recovered bikes with their owners.

He urged people who’ve had their bikes stolen to report the theft to gardaí as soon as they can. 

For people who’ve had their bike stolen, they can check the garda website to view bicycles and all other recovered property that they have in storage.

More info on the garda’s bicycle theft prevention strategy can be found here.