Why I was more afraid of the thief without the gun

THE German shop assistant who disarmed a gun-wielding thug last April has spoken for the first time about the attack.

Jennifer Zain, who has been living in Ireland for 12 years, told the Irish Mail on Sunday this week how she tried her best to remain calm as two men, one armed with what appeared to be a pump-action shotgun, shouted ‘we’ll shoot your f ****** head off’.

The men wore no masks, had no getaway car and had been in the post office a day earlier collecting their dole.

Shockingly, it was Ms Zain’s second time being attacked in the village. In 2013, while working with the North Wexford Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, she was attacked with a crowbar.

‘It does affect you in the long run,’ she said.

The two men who held her at gunpoint in the local shop had only moved to Courtown from Fettercairn, Tallaght, in the days prior to the robbery. One of the men had also just been released from prison.

Ms Zain added: ‘I will never forget it, they turned around and one had a gun. I was trying to keep them as far away because I had nowhere to go.

‘I kept telling them I don’t have a key. I tried to stay as calm as possible. It went on for minutes. He was shouting, “I’ll blow your f ****** head off.”

‘I was more afraid of the one without the gun, because he was more aggressive.

‘The unarmed man started pushing the till and the other lad with the gun grabbed behind the gun and that’s when I felt he came into my space. I just saw the gun and I lost it. It was fight or flight and I was thinking of my mother-in-law who is 87 and comes out for her newspaper.

‘I grabbed the bar and then he wanted to hit me on the head with the gun so I grabbed that too, and then the big man ran. The other lad then grabbed the whole till, but he tripped.’

Ms Zain’s partner, Noel Dunbar, was in the post office attached to the shop at the time of the robbery. He was doing work out the back and did not see what was happening at first. When he finally heard the commotion he told the men he had called the gardaí and was also threatened with the gun.

Mr Dunbar later gave chase after the men had been disarmed by Ms Zain. He caught and restrained one of the men. The other man who had been carrying the gun, ran up the road, but was picked up by gardaí a few metres away. They had been alerted after the men stopped to urinate in an ex-army officer’s garden just before the robbery and he noticed the gun tucked into one of the men’s trousers.

Ms Zain said: ‘All they [gardaí] had to do was come down and collect them as they ran. It was perfect. I have to say the gardaí were incredible and our liaison officer is just a gem.’

A trained nurse, Ms Zain told how she first tried to feel sorry for the thieves, but then thought better of it. ‘I thought no, not when they threaten your life. I’ve had to promise my dad, who works for the antiterrorism in Germany, that I wouldn’t play the hero again. People react differently and I don’t know why I did what I did.

‘I started martial arts classes, it’s self defence for women, and that helps a lot. It helps psychologically to get your confidence back.’

Both men – who are selfconfessed drug addicts – have been jailed since the robbery. Stephen Walsh, 21, of Drumcairn Green, Fettercairn, Tallaght pleaded guilty to possession of an air gun with the intention to commit a robbery. He also pleaded guilty to robbing Noel Dunbar of €4,000. He has another two years left to serve in prison.

Luke Strong, 18, of Riverchapel View, Courtown, also pleaded guilty to robbing Mr Dunbar and will be in jail for another one-ahalf years.

Despite the short jail terms, Ms Zain admitted that she was ‘lucky’ because she got justice.

‘We are quite lucky in this case because we got something,’ she said. ‘They were jailed, although we did hope for a little bit more, because they had so many previous convictions.’

Ms Zain was also attacked in the small Wexford village in 2013, while working for the North Wexford Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She was attacked with a crowbar after responding to a cruelty call. The owner of the dog had put an axe through the head of his West Highland terrier. She said: ‘We were called and we went in and the dog was still alive. I challenged him and then he pulled the crowbar from behind his back. I ran like hell, he didn’t get me.’