Two held in connection with foiled robbery of gold wholesaler

STAFF AT a gold wholesaler were tied up during an attempted armed robbery in Dublin city centre yesterday morning.

Two men entered the Bullion Room on Bolton Street at 9.30am. They tied up a man and a woman. However, the alarm was activated, alerting the Garda. The fire brigade attended and cut a hole in the metal shutter of the shop to allow gardaí to access the building.

The suspects, two men in their early 30s, were arrested at the scene. They were being held at Bridewell Garda station.

The two workers were not injured during the incident and nothing was stolen from the site.

The business may have held significant amounts of precious metal on the premises. It is a wholesaler and purchases scrap precious metal from the trade rather than the public. It buys from the dozens of cash-for-gold businesses which have opened in recent years.

The metal is refined by the company which sells investment products such as gold bullion bars, according to its website. It is the Irish branch of a Birmingham-based company. Yesterday, the website was offering one ounce gold bullion bars for some £800.

Gardaí and detectives were at the site yesterday morning as well as a security guard. A uniformed garda was on duty outside the premises.

A spokesman for the company’s UK headquarters said they knew very little about the incident and were unable to comment further.

The scene has been preserved for a technical examination and gardaí found a firearm which is being sent for ballistic inspection.

The premises is between a property shop and a vacant shop. Local shopkeepers said they had not seen regular robberies in the area and were not concerned for safety.