Patient tells how car was attacked by thieves in Doncaster hospital car park while she was away just 10 minutes

Dawn Mulholland, aged 56, from Armthorpe, had visited the hospital for a check-up for type two diabetes. She parked up at 4pm on Monday, and returned almost straight away to her Honda Jazz as there had been a mix-up over her appointment.

She said: “I got back in, and put the key in. There was a light that had come on on the dashboard. I started the car engine, and there was a really loud sound. It sounded like a motorbike starting, and backfiring.”

Worried, she took the car to a garage – where the engineer told her someone had been under her car and stolen the valuable catalytic converter.

Thieves have been targeting them because they contain expensive metals.

"I was absolutely gutted,” she said. “I phoned the police and they said it has been happening.

"People need to be aware of this. Apparently you can get a strap that makes it more difficult to remove.

"I didn’t expect it to be taken at the hospital – they must have been brazen. It was broad daylight.”

She said she hoped there might be something on closed circuit television cameras to help trace whoever had done it.

Police have issued warnings about the problems of catalytic converter thieves in the past.

It was the second mishap within a few hours for Dawn. A fish tank at her home had broken the previous night, flooding one of her rooms and ruining the carpet.

A police spokesman said: “We received a call at 4pm on February 1 for reports of theft from a motor vehicle.

“It is reported that the catalytic converter was stolen from a car while parked at Doncaster Royal Infirmary.

“Officers are investigating the report and anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting crime reference number 14/24378/21.”

Police advise parking in well-lit areas, secure car parks or an area with CCTV to minimise the risk of such thefts, and say they have been also working with scrap metal dealers on the issue.

Doncaster Royal Infirmary has been contacted for comment.

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