My car was gone from the driveway, as was my engagement ring, even the kids' little money boxes from their bedrooms ... - a Newbridge woman describes the aftermath of a burglary in her home

A friend dropped me home on a Monday morning from a girl's weekend away and it took a few seconds to register with me that the car was missing from the driveway. I was still in a state of autopilot as I put the key in the door. Once inside, the shock hit. I'd been ransacked. Some lights were still left on and I went from room to room in disbelief. I almost sank to my knees as I saw drawers and presses pulled out and personal things thrown all over the floor. I found out later that they were focusing their search on looking for the spare key of the car and obviously they had got it. Some Newbridge Silverware jewelery I had was thrown on my bed but remarkably none of it was missing. They wanted bigger stuff that they could dispose of quickly. My biggest worry was an engagement ring that I had left somewhere on my desk in the spare room because I had it in for repair. But it was nowhere to be seen now. It was a three-stone diamond ring and worth in the region of €3,000. As I found my way from room to room upstairs, I realised they had also been in the kids' bedrooms. But again, they had left things like the Xbox and the tablets behind. However they took little money boxes that the kids had been collecting extra pocket money in for their holidays. Now all gone. Why? I would have to tidy up their bedrooms before they got home from school. But it struck me - would I tell them or not? Would they be able to sleep in their rooms if they knew what happened? I had been holding back the tears until this point.

I composed myself and rang the guards and it happened that a patrol car was in the area and a very helpful guard came to the door within minutes. He efficiently took details from me in his notebook. But with all the shock, I couldn't remember my car registration number for ten minutes.

It emerged that they had climbed over the side fence and forced a wonky side door. It really didn't take much effort to do it when I thought about it. We were sitting ducks.

The guards later came to check for fingerprints but found no traces.

It later turned out that within a day or two my car was on the Internet for sale. Up in Cavan. Miles away. They brazenly had posted photos of my car inside and out to show it off to the unsuspecting buyer. I contacted the gardai and they followed it up. But the man who was selling it insisted he bought it in good faith from a dealer and no charges were brought. Around the same time, a woman up the country had found belongings of mine like an old handbag carelessly thrown on the side of the road and had handed them into a garda station. I eventually got the car back but it wasn't the same and I'm selling it now. Little things I had in the boot or back seat like pair of shoes or a scarf were gone too.

It took me a long time to feel secure in my own home again. But we have replaced the side door and put in extra security like a good house alarm. I suppose I was naive to think that it could never happen to you, but the reality today is that it probably does happen eventually, to everybody.

But I remember what the guard said to me in my kitchen that terrible morning: if you put any obstacle at all in their way, even the smallest thing, then they will often go to the next house. But I realise we were just lucky we weren't in the house at the time.