Armed raiders rob £2,000 from Tontine Society

February 1986

Two armed and masked raiders got away with around £2,000 when they robbed a savings society this week.

The drama occurred at around 9 p.m. on Monday when two men wearing balaclava helmets burst into the Bray Tontine Society office in the old Town Hall and held up staff and customers.

One of the men was armed with a sawn-off shotgun while the other wielded a meat-cleaver.

They threatened the five people on the premises at the time and demanded that the money be handed over.

During the incident, one of the men fired his shotgun through the ceiling of the office, a former rate-collector’s office on the ground floor of the Town Hall building.

After taking the money, the raiders warned that if anyone ‘put their head outside the window’ after they left then their ‘ head would be blown off ’.

As a result, the criminals had 10 minutes to make their getaway before the alarm was raised by the staff and customers.

According to gardaí, no-one was injured in the robbery.

The victims were suffering from shock in the wake of their ordeal on Tuesday morning.

In the aftermath of the robbery, it seems that it was carried out by criminals with local knowledge.

According to gardaí it was not very well known that the Tontine office was open for business on Monday evenings.

The Tontine Society is used as a savings club by local people.