GARDAÍ ARE APPEALING for information following two handbag snatches in Limerick city in which the victims were threatened with a knife and a scissors.

Appealing for information this morning, Garda John Finnerty, Henry Street Garda Station, said both incidents occurred on Friday evening.

“Two females were the subject of a robbery last Friday evening at 7.10pm on New Street Limerick City,”  Garda Finnerty said.

“Both were walking in the direction of Punch’s Cross when a blue Toyota Corolla pulled up beside them. The passenger in this car jumped out and threatened both females with a small silver knife that was approximately 7cm long.

“The thief attempted to cut the strap of the handbag from the first female. This female then relented and handed over her handbag to the thief. The thief then attempted to take another handbag from the second female by force but she refused to hand over her handbag and in the process the thief knocked her on the ground.

“At this stage a male passerby who quickly realised what was going on intervened and managed to extract the first handbag back from the thief who left empty handed and he jumped back into the car and it sped off.”

Garda Finnerty said gardaí were trying to trace the whereabouts of the blue coloured Corolla, and he decried the suspect as “approximately 5ft 5 inches, wearing a grey ‘11 Degrees’ puff jacket with the hood up” and they appeared to be “intoxicated, from drugs”.

A second male suspected of assisting the armed man had “a spider web tattoo on his right elbow”.

“The car again was a blue Toyota Corolla. Both female victims were clearly traumatised by the events that took place, fortunately neither were physically injured, and the Gardai at Roxboro Road Garda Station (061-214340) are anxious to speak to any witnesses”.

Garda Finnerty said a second robbery occurred a short time later when a female was threatened by a man armed with a scissors, at the Junction of John St and Grattan Street, around 9.10pm.

“She had a purple shoulder bag across her shoulder, a thief approached her and threatened her with a small scissors and demanded that she hand over her handbag, the victim relented and handed it over,” said Garda Finnerty.

“The thief took the handbag and ran off with it down Grattan Street. He is described as approximately 5ft 5 inches, and he was wearing a grey jacket with the hood pulled up.”

“Again in this instance the victim was clearly traumatised. It’s likely that both robberies are related, so if anyone has any information on either crime, then we would like to hear from you, please contact Roxboro Road Garda Station and the number again is 061-214340.”