A gang which thought it was siphoning home heating oil from a tank at the childhood home of pop mogul Louis Walsh in Kiltimagh, Co Mayo, got away instead with aviation gasoline for a helicopter.
Gardaí have now warned the thieves it would be dangerous if they attempt to use the highly flammable fuel in a central heating boiler or sell it on for such purposes.
Louis Walsh’s mother Maureen was not at home in the early afternoon last week when intruders broke into a shed at the rear of her house in Chapel Street.
The gang stole a quantity of aviation fuel from a tank in the mistaken belief it was central heating oil.
A member of the Walsh family raised the alarm and the raiders fled the scene in a 1998 registered Mitsubishi car.
The aviation fuel was being stored in the shed by one of Mrs Walsh’s sons, Joe, a director of Connacht Helicopters Limited, which operates a Robinson R44, four-seat light helicopter.
Joe Walsh, a businessman, regularly lands and takes off in the vicinity of his own home to visit his mother.
Determined in their bid to steal home heating oil and nothing else, the two man gang ignored power tools and other items being stored in the shed.
Inspector Shane Cummins of the Claremorris Garda District appealed on Monday to anybody who might have information about the theft to come forward.
“The aviation fuel involved is highly inflammable and it would be dangerous to use it for any other purpose than the one it was intended for”, the Inspector said.
In recent years, as the price of domestic heating oil has soared, the theft of the product has risen accordingly.
Gardaí have warned householders to be vigilant and say the thieves involved have become very professional, some of them travelling around in large vans with siphoning equipment.