Armed gang in bank hold-up in Rathdrum

January 1992

STAFF AT the Rathdrum branch of Bank of Ireland were held at gunpoint by masked and armed raiders on Monday morning as they arrived back at work to reopen the bank following the Christmas holidays.

The season of peace and goodwill was shattered in tranquil Avondale as the gang of four men, armed with handguns, menaced the bank staff in an early mooring swoop on the bank before escaping with the Christmas contents of the night-safe.

Just a matter of hours away from the beginning of the New Year, the spectre of violent crime raised its head as the four-man gang gained entry to the back of the bank before opening time and demanded the contents of the night-safe which had been deposited by local traders over the Christmas period.

One member of the gang remained at the door while the three others confronted staff in a violent manner.

The men, all masked, took the money from the night-safe which had not even been counted yet at such an early stage in the morning.

In a slick operation, the bank robbers escaped from the scene of their daring crime in an Opel Vectra which was shortly afterwards found abandoned at Rathdrum Cemetery, about two miles outside the town.