A prison officer who's home was daubed with obscene graffiti at the weekend last night revealed that it was the fourth time his personal property has been attacked in the past three weeks. Kathryn Hayes reports.
The father of three, who lives in a plush Limerick suburb, arrived home on Sunday evening to discover the back door of his home had been kicked in.
The words "screw" and "scum" were written in graffiti on the door.
In the past three weeks, his car has been broken into twice and a third attempt to break into the car was made last Tuesday.
"This has been going on for the last 2½ weeks. The first time they broke into my car they stole my uniform for work and other personal belongings. They came back again and forced the door with an iron bar and completely reefed the inside of the car and they tried again last Tuesday," said the prison officer who doesn't wish to be named.
"I was out for the day with my daughter and when I came back around 7 p.m. I noticed that the side door of the house was open. When I went to check it I saw that the lock had been broken and that they had written in graffiti on the door," he recalled.
"I've been living here since 1996 but I have considered moving because of this. I have to protect my wife and family. I got up three times on Sunday night to make sure everything was okay and I'm going around like a zombie.
"I know it's related to the job I do because no-one else's cars have been damaged," he said.
The prison officer who has been working in the job for the past 27 years, last night said he would go to the credit union to get a loan for an alarm system if he had to.
"I'm meeting with the governor and a representative from the Department but if they can't provide me with an alarm in the next day or two then I'll get a loan from the credit union to get a system with cameras installed. I have no choice. My wife is in bits and I have to protect my children who are very young," he said.
The prison officer strongly dismissed suggestions that Sunday's attack was part of a propaganda attempt by prison officers, who are involved in a dispute with the Minister regarding over-time pay.