A major Garda operation along one of the country’ s busiest motorway systems and the vigilance of a van driver resulted in the arrests of seven men suspected of violently robbing a family at gunpoint.
The dramatic chain of events unfolded over six hours and four counties. It ended when armed gardaí pulled two of the suspects from their stolen car as shocked commuter motorists in busy traffic looked on.
A Garda car was seen with smoke coming from it during the operation. It is believed the engine of the vehicle exploded as a result of the high-speed pursuit.
The raiders, from Coolock in north Dublin, struck at about 3am yesterday, breaking into the family home of Mark Corcoran and Emma O'Dwyer in an isolated cul de sac in Burnchurch, 6km from the village of Killenaule, Co Tipperary.
The couple’s three daughters, all under the age of eight, were asleep at the time.
Ms O’Dwyer’s uncle, John O’Dwyer, said his niece and her family were “very shaken”. While they ran a bedding business from a warehouse beside their home, he believed cash was never kept there. “It’s an awful experience for anyone – they were savage,” he said of the trauma the raiders had caused, adding that one of the girls came out of her bedroom and witnessed the violence.
“It was very, very frightening. They tied them up and they had guns and knives. They threatened to shoot them.”
The gang were armed with two shotguns, knives and crow bars. They broke the livingroom window of the family's home and climbed into the house.
Butt of a gun
Mr Corcoran's nose was broken when he was hit across the face with the butt of a gun. The gang tied him up and ordered Ms O'Dwyer to gather up and cash and other valuables.
After a period the gang fled the scene; five of them in the stolen car they had arrived in and two in the couple's Kia Sportage 4X4.
Ms O'Dwyer and Ms Corcoran alerted gardaí by phone and gardaí from Thurles some 22kms away arrived within 20 minutes. Before that, and on suspicion the gang were from Dublin, Garda personnel in the region were told to monitor the roads towards the capital.
At about 4.30am gardaí on the N7 just south of Naas forced to a stop a car carrying five men. They were arrested and taken to Garda stations in Kildare, Newbridge and Naas.
Gardaí believe the two other men in the stolen 4X4 had hidden off the roads to delay their drive back to Dublin until commuter traffic had built up. “It looks like they were trying to hide from us in the morning rush hour,” said one source.
A van driver who knows Mr Corcoran and Ms Dwyer spotted their stolen car not far from Portlaoise and alerted gardaí.
With gardaí already on alert in the area, the 4X4 was soon spotted and covertly followed by a Garda team – including members of the organised crime unit and emergency response unit.
Heavy traffic
When it ran into heavy traffic at Newlands Cross beside Bewley's Hotel on the edge of the city, gardaí moved in. They rammed the 4X4, forcing it off the road before armed detectives on foot pulled the suspects from the vehicle. Some €1,300 in cash and jewellery stolen in the robbery hours earlier was recovered from the vehicle, along with two shotguns.
All seven suspects were transferred to Tipperary after being held briefly in Garda stations in Dublin and Kildare.
