GARDAÍ HAVE foiled an attempted bank robbery by an armed and masked gang who took the partner of a bank official hostage.
The gang drove her around for hours in a car boot and threatened to shoot her unless a ransom was paid.
The gang member who picked up the ransom was kept under surveillance by armed gardaí. He was later arrested and the cash recovered. It is understood the key to the success of the Garda operation was that Ulster Bank followed security protocols and alerted gardaí before the ransom left the bank.
The early warning enabled the Garda’s Organised Crime Unit (OCU) and Emergency Response Unit (ERU) to put a rapid response plan in place. All the money was recovered, the hostage was released without serious injury and a gang member was arrested.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern congratulated gardaí, and said the case underlined the importance of banks following protocols agreed with the Garda.
The attempted robbery began at 6.30am yesterday when a five- man gang armed with handguns broke into the house of an Ulster Bank official at Ballyfermot Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin.
The gang woke the bank official and his partner – aged 34 years and 33 years respectively – in their bed and threatened to shoot them.
The official was told the woman was to be taken away at gunpoint. She would only be freed unharmed if he got a ransom from his workplace at the Ulster Bank branch on Lower Kimmage Road in Dublin.
The woman was bundled into the boot of a car and driven away. Her shocked partner went to work as normal and informed the bank manager what was happening.
The Irish Times understands Ulster Bank immediately informed gardaí, who put teams of armed officers, mostly from the ERU and OCU, around the streets of Kimmage with a view to keeping the ransom money under surveillance.
The gang called the bank official at about 11am on the phone they had given him. He was told to put over €100,000 into a bag, put it in his car and leave it on a side street close to the Kimmage bank.
The official followed the instructions and the car was collected as planned by one of the gang members. He drove away and switched to another vehicle at Valleymount.
Once the other gang members knew their accomplice had the money, the woman was released at Steeplechase Court estate, near Fairyhouse racecourse, Co Meath, at noon. She went to a nearby house and raised the alarm.
In Dublin the gang member with the money remained under surveillance and was stopped in his car by a team of armed ERU and OCU gardaí at Larkfield Gardens, Kimmage Road West. All the money was recovered, and the man’s vehicle and mobile phone are to be technically examined.
The 24-year-old suspect, from Dublin’s south inner city, is being held under section 50 of the Offences Against the State Act at Crumlin Garda station. He can be detained for up to seven days without charge.
Gardaí were last night seeking his four accomplices and are confident of making further arrests.
The Irish Bank Officials’ Association said while the case was disturbing, it was encouraged the new protocols had worked. General secretary Larry Broderick said: “Bank officials will continue to be under threat until such time as it becomes clear to these gangs that the risk of getting caught far outweighs any possible benefit from engaging in this criminal activity.
6.30am
Five-man armed gang break into Ulster Bank official’s home at Ballyfermot Road, Dublin
11am
Official takes call from gang directing him to put cash into a bag in his car and to park it on side street near bank
Noon
Hostage freed after gang member gets call to say associates have ransom. Hostage goes to nearby house and raises alarm