A father’s worst nightmare while on holiday, the horror feeling  that his kids had gone missing, has inspired a Castletown man to invent a simple security device that may earn him a fortune and has already been displayed at a security exhibition hosted by An Garda Síochána  in Dublin.

The MADDIE Alert is a groundbreaking device that was invented by concerned parent, David Dempsey, from Castletown, near Gorey, after an intruder entered his children’s bedroom through a locked patio door as they slept while on holidays.

David tells the story; “In October 2011, my wife and I and our two kids, aged 8 and 10, decided to go on a family friendly holiday out to Fort Ventura in Spain.

“Everything was going well until the third night. As normal in my kids room there was a sliding patio door. I put them to bed. I locked the patio door; pulled the curtain, turned on the outside light and everyone went to bed.

“Next morning when I was going to the kitchen at about seven thirty, I glimpsed into the kid’s room and saw the curtains blowing inwards on the patio door so a cloud of terror descended on me … I thought the kids were gone!”

David could see one of his children in the bed, but not the other. It was a horrible moment that left him terrified.

After a worrying search, David found the second kid, but a lot of the family’s belongings were gone – bags, phone and camera and such things – but he thanked God that his kids were safe.

Intruders had got in through a locked patio door, but David did an experiment to explore how this could have happened.

“I got my wife to lock the patio door and I was able to open the patio door within about fifteen seconds and the reason is an inherent problem with a patio door that it is running on a track and all you have to do is dislodge the door from the track and the lock will disengage.”

An engineer by profession, David began to ponder means of correcting this problem and bringing better security into the lives of others.

He spent fifteen months coming up with an idea or an invention that would lock and alarm a sliding door, a patio door, French door and any kind of window, so he set himself a huge task to come up with a solution.

This patent pending invention was inspired from a passion to Make A Difference, Deter Intruder Entry, thus the acronym MADDIE Alert was born.

David has got a patent for his invention and it is registered as MADDIE Alert because he was in Spain when little Madeleine McCann was abducted and he even helped in the search for her in 2007.

The parents of Madeleine McCann have been kept informed of MADDIE Alert and are happy that positive things are happening and been developed in light of everything that has happened to their child.

The device is the first invention in the world that actually locks any kind of door or window without the need for tools. If an intruder tries to open a door or window they will be first met with a 130 decibel alarm and then if they proceed to try and come in the device physically stops them entering.

The device is so small that it can be carried in the pocket and provides a priceless and invaluable method of protection that is easily achievable in every type of home or holiday accommodation.

The device can be bought on line at MADDIE Alert.com or by post to David Dempsey Clonough House, Inch, Gorey.

Full report in this week’s edition of THE GOREY ECHO.