A MAN is recovering in hospital after a gang broke into his home, beat him and shot him in the arm, then tied him to a chair before robbing three firearms from his safe.
The victim, in his 30s, was alone in his remote cottage in Rathduff Mor, close to Hacketstown village on the Carlow-Wicklow border, when he was attacked at about 10pm on Wednesday.
Garda sources said four men, one armed with a baseball bat and one with a handgun, burst into the house through the front door and attacked the owner of the property, who is originally from Bray, Co Wicklow.
The masked gang demanded money from the victim as well as the keys to a safe in which he stored a number of legally held firearms.
As they made their demands, they beat the victim over the head with the baseball bat, shot him in the arm with their handgun and then tied him to a chair.
The gang found the keys of the victim’s gun safe and managed to open it, taking two shotguns and a rifle. Garda sources said the guns were legally held and were believed to be used for hunting purposes.
When they got the guns the gang fled the scene. Despite demanding money and ransacking the house, they escaped with no cash.
The injured man managed to free himself and struggled to a neighbour’s house about 100m away.
When he reached that property he collapsed as his neighbour alerted the emergency services.
When gardaí and an ambulance arrived the man was treated by paramedics at the scene and was taken to Naas General Hospital. He was still in hospital last night. While his condition is said to be stable, he has been left very traumatised by the ordeal.
“Obviously he was very badly beaten with a baseball bat and shot in the arm with a handgun so he’s in a bad way,” said one Garda source.
“By the time he managed to get out of the chair and get across to the next house he had lost an awful lot of blood. So it was very lucky that he was able to get free and alert the neighbour.”
Garda sources said they could not confirm local reports that a biker gang may have been behind the armed robbery.
“It’s very early days, we’ll obviously examine everything but at this stage the biker gang connection is not confirmed,” said one source.
Gardaí believe the gang clearly knew the victim had firearms locked away in his home.
The house was sealed off by gardaí on Wednesday night immediately the alarm was raised. Members of the Garda technical bureau forensically examined the property yesterday.
They took samples from two Rottweiler dogs owned by the victim to see whether they were drugged by the assailants, or if they had bitten one of them, and, if so, whether DNA evidence could be obtained.
The victim’s blood could be clearly seen outside the house yesterday. While gardaí spoke to him in hospital yesterday, he was not yet well enough to speak to them at length.
It is hoped he will be properly interviewed today. Gardaí said it was unclear in what direction the four-man gang escaped after the robbery, or what kind of transport they used.
Local sources said the man had not been living in the area for long and that little was known about him. One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said the victim was a “quiet, unassuming” man.
“I couldn’t believe it when I came across the scene last night, it’s not something that ever happens in this area,” he said.
“It’s such a small little house, no one would ever have thought something like this would happen, it’s really shocking.”
Gardaí in Baltinglass are appealing for anyone with information to come forward. They can be contacted at (059) 6482610.