Thieves make withdrawal with JCB

LOCALS in the harbour town of Rosslare awoke yesterday to the sight of a new “hole in the wall” at the Bank of Ireland after thieves rammed the building with a JCB and stole the ATM machine containing €140,000.

Gardaí were last night confident of a breakthrough in the investigation into the robbery, but said recovery of the money could be impeded as the notes were unmarked.

Extensive damage was caused to the bank after the raiders ploughed through the outer wall in a JCB. The room housing the ATM machine was demolished and the damage cut off electricity and telephone lines to the bank.

The bank was yesterday closed for business.

“We would have CCTV footage from the bank, but what condition it is in has yet to be established,” Bank of Ireland spokesperson Anne Matthews said.

The JCB had been stolen from a building site in the nearby Killinick area sometime around 3am yesterday. It was then driven a few miles to Rosslare, where the raiders drove it into the building.

Although the alarm was set off they managed to escape.

“At around 3.20am a JCB mechanical digger was used to remove the ATM from the bank; it appears the same vehicle was used to load it on to some form of car trailer,” Sergeant Michael Walsh from Wexford Garda Station said.

The JCB was abandoned and gardaí believe the thieves made their getaway in a waiting car and trailer. No description of the car was available, but a number of witnesses are helping gardaí with their inquiries.

“It’s a big job, they went to a lot of bother to carry it out,” a garda source said.

As many of the residents begin work at the port in the early hours of the morning, gardaí said they expected further information would come to light.

Anyone with information is asked to contact gardaí in Rosslare on (053) 33204.