Bank worker and husband in €130,000 kidnap ordeal

Issued : 12 September 2009


Irish Independent


GARDAI were last night hunting a criminal gang after a Bank of Ireland official was forced to hand over €130,000 as she feared for her kidnapped husband's life.The latest "tiger kidnapping" was branded a "new low" by worried bank workers' as the woman was callously grabbed and bundled into a car just moments after dropping her young child to a creche.

The couple, who are in their 30s and live in the north county Dublin suburb of Lusk, were described as severely traumatised but otherwise unhurt after their ordeal. Their toddler was not involved in the kidnapping. "Although this was a very traumatic crime, nobody was injured," Supt Mark Curran from Coolock Garda Station said.

The Irish Bank Officials' Association (IBOA), which represents thousands of financial workers, said the association would be seeking a meeting with the Justice Minister for a review of security following the latest kidnapping. Larry Broderick, IBOA general secretary, said there were heightened concerns that bank workers were being targeted due to the recession. He said it appeared to be becoming routine for criminal organisations to obtain workers' addresses and target them at their family homes.

A Bank of Ireland statement said: "Internal security processes were activated.

"Bank of Ireland's priority is for the safety and wellbeing of the staff member and the family involved in this incident and all of the bank's support services have been made available to them," the statement added.

The latest "tiger kidnapping" unfolded after the Bank of Ireland official left her home at Dun Emer Lawn in Lusk, Co Dublin, to drop her young child to the nearby creche just a few minutes walk away.

Armed
Shortly after 9am, the woman and her husband were abducted from their semi-detached home in the quiet estate by about six armed gang members who are believed to have been watching the family before the kidnapping.

Her husband was taken away in a white van, while the Bank of Ireland official was forced to go to the branch where she worked at Coolock Village. It is believed she was able to withdraw €130,000.

At around 11am, on the instructions of the gang, the money was left in her gold-coloured car which was parked at the agreed drop-off point on Greenwood Avenue, in Coolock.

In the meantime, her husband had been taken to Carrigmore Estate in Citywest, in south west Dublin. There, gang members tied him up in a small white hatchback van. At around 2pm, he managed to free himself and contacted gardai.

Gardai appealed to anyone in the area of the Dun Emer Estate, Lusk; Coolock Village; Greenwood Avenue, Coolock; or the Carrigmore Estate, in Citywest, between 8am and 2pm yesterday who noted any suspicious activity to contact Coolock garda station.

Last night, shocked neighbours spoke about the violence which erupted in their midst. One neighbour said she was home at the time the couple were kidnapped but did not notice anything. The well-kept family semi-detached house was surrounded by crime-scene tape as the Garda Technical Bureau team examined the scene.

Detectives from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation have joined gardai from Coolock in the hunt for the criminal gang.

Grainne Cunningham and Louise Hogan