Kidnapping victim sues Bank of Ireland for ‘failure’ to protect him
He ‘suffered PTSD after tiger raid’, court is told
A BANK official who was forced to carry out a €7.6million bank robbery following a tiger kidnapping is suing Bank of Ireland.
Shane Travers, 30, is taking a personal injuries action against the bank, claiming it failed to protect him and his reputation.
His counsel, Oisín Quinn SC, said Mr Travers was just 24 and a junior bank employee when armed men came to his home in Kilteel, Co. Kildare, in February 2009.
Mr Travers’s then girlfriend Steph-
‘Bank wanted to get rid of him’
anie Smith and two members of her family were held hostage overnight, and in t he morning he was instructed to drive to the Bank of Ireland on Dublin’s College Green.
He walked out of the bank with €7.6million in four big bags, Mr Quinn said, which he handed over to the robbers before he was released. Mr Quinn said his client now suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression as a result of his ordeal.
He said it was claimed the bank had failed to provide procedures to reduce the risk of an event such as a tiger kidnapping from happening.
It was heard that Mr Travers had been arrested as part of the investigation into the robbery, but released two days later without charge.
Mr Quinn said the arrest had almost resulted in Mr Travers’s dismissal after the bank claimed he had breached its code of conduct by not reporting it to them. Mr Quinn noted Mr Travers had been unable to notify the bank of his arrest as he was in custody, and said the bank had been well aware of the arrest due to extensive media reportage.
He said it was believed the bank had feared its corporate image could potentially be damaged by the arrest of Mr Travers, and it ‘wanted to get rid of him’.
This added to the distress experienced by Mr Travers, counsel said.
Declan McGrath SC, for the bank, said it was denied the bank had no reason to suspect Mr Travers of involvement in the crime.
He also said that the bank was disputing the causation of Mr Travers’s alleged injuries. He said Mr Travers could have suffered PTSD as a result of spending 48 hours in custody, and the media coverage.
The case came before Mr Justice Séamus Noonan yesterday to resolve a number of issues regarding disclosure, ahead of a full hearing of the proceedings. Judge Noo- nan said he did not support Mr Travers’s application to receive all documentation held by the bank relating to his arrest, media coverage of this, and the response of the bank to this.
The judge agreed to order disclosure requested by the bank of Mr Travers’s medical records following the tiger kidnapping.
In November 2014, a nephew of Stephanie Smith – Stephen Smith, who was just five when he was caught up in the tiger kidnapping – was awarded €17,250 against Bank of Ireland. Ms Smith has also taken her own action for personal injuries against the bank.