Irish robbers demolish bank to get ATM machine...

Now that's a hole in the wall! Armed gang try to steal bank's cashpoint using a digger 

By SANDRA MURPHY
Last updated at 12:11 AM on 2nd May 2011

Masked robbers threatened to shoot a man filming them as they smashed a digger into a bank to try to steal a cash machine.

The six-strong gang, at least one of whom was armed, targeted the Bank of Ireland  machine in Tinahely, Co Wicklow, with the  25-ton digger at 5.45am yesterday.

It is understood that they fled with only a small amount of cash after the ATM was buried under rubble and the men were unable to reach its contents.

Cordon: The brazen robbery left a gaping hole in the building, which was roped off by police

Devastation: Officers investigate the scene after the armed gang's raid

Simon Byrne, who runs the Seavers pub opposite the bank, said that he initially thought there had been a fire after hearing an alarm go off.

After he began filming the robbery on his mobile phone, one of the gang put a gun to his head and ordered him back into his home.

Arklow Fianna Fáil councillor Pat Doran said: ‘This all happened at around dawn, and there was an awful racket heard in the street.

‘When Simon went out on the street and  saw what the gang were up to, he started capturing the raid on his phone, which lasted about 15 minutes.

Danger: A member of the gang threatened to shoot an eyewitness

Attack: The digger lists to one side after being used in the attack, left, which reduced a large section of the Bank of Ireland in Co Wicklow to rubble

‘He was threatened by one member, who told him to get back in or he would be shot.’

The men escaped in a stolen car. Nobody was injured in the incident.

Gardaí could not confirm yesterday whether the gang had managed to steal anything.  However, villagers pointed out that the robbery had taken place just hours after the annual popular walking festival, and therefore there would have been little money inside. Other sources claimed the machine had been out of order for several days.

Fine Gael councillor Vincent Blake said: ‘Right now, all you can see is an absolute mess on the street. There is talk locally that the machine could not have been lifted and is underneath the fallen wall.

‘This robbery went wrong and they must have escaped with nothing, unless they stuffed any money in their pockets.

‘It is believed that they did not plan on collapsing the whole building, and when the noise from that was heard and woke people up, they just panicked and fled.

‘All the diggers, tractors and trailers are still there, so there is no way they could have taken it.’

Contractor Tom Byrne, who owns the digger, said that the bank would have to be rebuilt completely. ‘The floors and the roof collapsed when the front wall was ripped out,’ he added. It is gone completely, every bit of it is damaged and cracked.

‘It’s the only bank for miles, and the damage done will probably mean it has to be demolished, which will be a major loss.’

A Garda spokesman said he could not confirm whether the ATM had been taken.

‘We are unaware of the amount of cash taken at this time,’ he added. ‘There is a possibility that it is under the rubble but we don’t know that for sure yet.’

Gardaí say that a number of vehicles stolen on Saturday night were involved, including a black Mitsubishi Pajero (03-CN-712) stolen  in Tullow, Co. Carlow, a silver Toyota Land Cruiser (06-KK-946) taken from Castledermot in Co. Carlow and a tractor and trailer unit (90-WX-4156) from Clonegal, Co. Wexford.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1382611/Armed-gang-try-steal-cashpoint-using-digger-smash-bank-Ireland.html#ixzz1LCPEP2KG