Gardaí suspect €2m heist was an inside job

GARDAÍ are investigating suspicions that the gang behind Monday’s multi-million euro heist may have had inside information, sources said yesterday.

The 100-man garda team yesterday began the process of identifying and speaking to every person connected with the security van.

Raiders got away with over €2 million when they kidnapped the family of security guard Paul Richardson from their home in Raheny, north Dublin, on Sunday night and ordered him to report to work on Monday and drive a security van to the gang at a rendezvous point.

“Obviously we have to look at the possibility they had someone on the inside,” said one garda source. “We have to look at that as a strong possibility.”

Detectives are suspicious of how the gang knew the van carried so much money and how they knew Mr Richardson was going to be driving the van on Monday.

Experienced officers said the gang would not have risked kidnapping a family from a built-up estate if they did not have these details.

“This gang would not have put it up to chance and hope they would get lucky and get a big amount. They had to know what they were going for and what they were getting,” said one garda.

However, gardaí said it was possible the gang got this intelligence from detailed, long-term surveillance of Securicor van routes and the drivers of the vans on certain days.

Gardaí and industry sources expressed surprise yesterday that there was no garda escort for a van transporting so much cash.

Detectives attached to the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation yesterday began talking to staff at Securicor and to anyone else even remotely connected to the raided van.

Gardaí suspect only a small handful of organised criminal gangs could have carried out the raid, but are keeping an open mind.

A gang of armed robbers in Dublin’s north inner city yesterday joined a well-known gang in Finglas, north Dublin, and another gang in Tallaght, south Dublin, as leading suspects.

Officers have not ruled out the possibility that the Provisional IRA, or even the INLA, may have been behind the heist, but some senior sources are sceptical of this theory.

Gardaí yesterday appealed to commuters sitting in traffic at Strawberry Beds at around 8.30am on Monday and who saw men hanging around the car park of the Angler’s Rest pub to contact them.

They also want to speak to anyone in the Ashcroft area in Raheny who saw anything suspicious from 8pm on Sunday night or in the previous weeks.

A spokesman for Securicor Ireland yesterday said they were “actively assisting” the garda investigation.

He said the company expressed its “abhorrence” at what had happened.

“The company is doing everything it can to provide support for the family and for the other members of Securicor staff who were involved,” he said.

He said the company continually reviewed its security systems to minimise risks.

“We maintain close liaison with staff and their representatives. We also maintain close liaison with the gardaí, customers and key security advisers.”