Gardaí are searching for a gang who forced a cash-in-transit driver to drive to Dublin and kidnapped his wife and two young children.
The so-called "tiger kidnapping" occurred in Tullow, Co Carlow, on Wednesday night when four masked men carrying guns entered the family home at about 10.30pm.
They ordered the man to drive to Dublin and take money from a cash-in-transit van scheduled to make a delivery in Grafton Street, Dublin, yesterday morning. The man's wife and their two children, aged two and four, were held hostage in a vacant house at Banogue, just outside Gorey town in Co Wexford.
Gardaí say they were aware of the circumstances behind the kidnapping before the woman and her two children escaped from the house at about 11am yesterday morning. They made their way to a house down the road from where they were held hostage overnight, to raise the alarm.
The neighbours immediately alerted gardaí who were on the scene within minutes. They spoke to the mother and two children, who later received medical attention locally after their ordeal.
The cash-in-transit driver, who was directed by the gang using a mobile phone, drove to a location near Grafton Street. He told the cash-in-transit crew that his family had been kidnapped and they handed over a cashbox.
The man's movements were monitored by gardaí at Garda headquarters in Dublin. Once they knew the family were safe, they intercepted the man at the drop-off point chosen by the gang and recovered the money.