PENSIONER HOME INVASION TERROR

A MAN in his late sixties is recovering after he was subjected to a terrifying ordeal at the hands of a gang of masked raiders who stormed his home in Liscahane near Ardfert last Friday.

The four strong gang – all masked, wearing head lamps and brandishing heavy wooden stakes – cut the lights and burst into the man’s home shortly after 9.30pm on Friday night.

The terrified man – who is recovering with friends as he comes to terms with his trauma – was held hostage for an hour and a half as the raider’s ransacked his home and robbed the adjacent Liscahane Garden Centre, of which he is a co-owner. When the gang fled the 67-year-old was left lashed to a chair in the bathroom.

The highly professional gang are thought to be behind a number of similar recent crimes.

A MAN in his late sixties is recovering after he was subjected to a terrifying ordeal at the hands of a gang of masked raiders who stormed his home in Liscahane near Ardfert last Friday night.

Just after half nine on Friday evening the man was settling in to watch the Late Late Show when he heard a suspicious noise from outside his home and went to check what was happening. As he made his way down the hall the house erupted into chaos.

The lights were shut off and four masked men, carrying heavy wooden stakes, got into the house through the dining room window.

Practically paralysed with fear, the man was forced to the steps of the stairs as the gang – all wearing bright head lamps – stood over him and demanded that he show them the location of all safes and valuables in the house and in the adjacent Liscahane Garden Centre of which he is co-owner.

One raider told the terrified man he wouldn’t be hurt if he obeyed them but quickly followed up with a threat that the gang would “beat the s**t” out of him if he didn’t comply.

One gang member stayed with the man as his accomplices ransacked his home and then set about robbing the garden centre next door.

At one point the man was dragged to the back of the garden centre and forced to show the raiders – who all spoke with Irish accents – which keys to use. After he was brought back to his house, the raiders forced him into a bathroom where they tied him to a chair using neck-ties from his own wardrobe.

In what appeared to be a very professional operation, the raiders sprayed Dettol cleaning fluid on most surfaces as they ransacked the man’s home and in the garden centre in a bid to destroy DNA evidence and fingerprints. The method they used to enter the property was also extraordinary. They carefully removed beading on the outside of the frame before lifting out the entire glass pane from the large dining room window.

After an hour and a half the man’s ordeal came to an end when the gang left the house, telling their victim they would ring gardaí and alert them to his plight as soon as they left the property.

The man meanwhile set about freeing himself and the Dettol the gang had sprayed liberally all over the house actually aided in his escape. It provided enough lubrication for the man to free one of his hands from his bonds and untie himself. Using a weighing scales he was then able to break a panel on the bathroom door, allowing him to reach through for the key which was still in the lock.

In a bid to prevent him calling for help the raiders had thrown the man’s mobile phone and several portable land-line handsets into a wash basin. However they neglected to cut off the main land-line phone and after struggling out of the bathroom he was able to use it to alert gardaí and friends to what had happened. Gardaí and a number of the man’s close friends arrived on scene in minutes.

Gardaí are following a number of leads and say they are following a definite line of enquiry. CCTV footage from the area is being studied and anyone who noticed anything suspicious in the Liscahane and Ardfert area from about 8.30pm to midnight on Friday is asked to contact Tralee Garda Station.

Despite the time, organisation and violence required by the robbery it netted only a relatively small amount of cash and valuables for the gang.

Given the highly professional methods employed by the gang it is thought they may be behind other similar raids in the region, including a recent aggravated burglary at Shanagolden in west Limerick.

In that incident three weeks ago the local parish priest was tied up and locked in an upstairs rooms while three raiders ransacked his house.

The victim of Friday’s appalling incident in Ardfert is recovering with friends as he comes to terms with his ordeal. Though he wasn’t physically injured in the robbery The Kerryman understands he was extremely traumatised and deeply shaken. He is so upset he has only returned to the house for a brief visit and friends fear he will never feel safe in his home again.

Witnesses or anyone with information can contact gardaí in Tralee on 066-7102300, the Garda Confidential Line - 1800 666111 or Crimestoppers at 1800 250025.