GARDAÍ ARE investigating two armed robberies in which staff of cash businesses were threatened by gang members and a third incident in which a criminal gang tried to remove an ATM from the wall of a bank by using a mechanical digger.
The incidents unfolded within the space of nine hours yesterday in Dublin and Meath.
In Athboy, Co Meath, the exterior wall of a branch of Ulster Bank was badly damaged early yesterday when a group of men tried to tear the ATM from the wall using a stolen mechanical digger.
The five-man gang had moved a 4X4 vehicle with a trailer into place outside the bank of Main Street and gardai believe their plan was to put the ATM on the trailer and escape .
However, when their efforts to rip the ATM from the wall failed the men abandoned the robbery attempt.
They then ran from the scene and are believed to have left the area in a VW Golf.
The Pajero 4X4 and trailer left behind by the men have been taken by gardaí for forensic examination.
The digger used during the incident was stolen locally while the Pajero and trailer were stolen from Ballyjamesduff about two hours before the robbery attempt.
The Ulster Bank was damaged extensively during the incident at 6am yesterday. Overhead power lines were also damaged as the digger was rammed into the building. Gardaí in Kells are investigating.
The robbery is the latest in a series of raids involving the use of stolen diggers to rip ATMs from walls.
Last Friday morning, a digger was used to take an ATM from the wall at a service station on Enniscorthy, Co Wexford. Last Saturday week a gang in Co Monaghan used a digger in a failed attempt to steal a cash machine from a bank.
Last month in Co Kildare a digger ripped a cash machine from the wall of a Mother Hubbard’s restaurant in Moyvalley on the N4.
Members of one gang have been arrested and charged in connection with one digger robbery attempt. It is not known if yesterday’s attempted robbery in Athboy is linked to any of the other recent similar raids.
In Templeogue, west Dublin, yesterday morning staff at the Mansion nightclub in the Spawell complex were held at gunpoint by two men during a robbery. The men forced their way into the building shortly after 3am as staff were about to leave.
An undisclosed sum was taken by the men. The raiders escaped the immediate vicinity on foot. It is unclear if they were picked up in a waiting vehicle. None of the staff were injured during the attack. Gardaí in Terenure are investigating.
In another armed robbery in Dublin, staff at a car park in the south inner city were tied up by three men. The raiders gained access to the cash room at the Mercer St car park just after noon.
The raiders took an undisclosed sum of money before escaping in a Northern registered dark-coloured car, believed to be an Audi A4.
One of the car park employees was injured during the attack and was brought to St James’s Hospital for treatment. His injuries were described as “not serious”. Gardaí in Harcourt Terrace station are investigating the incident.