McDowell attacks NIB failure to contact gardaí
He said financial institutions, like everyone else, had a legal obligation immediately to contact gardaí once they knew a crime was underway. He expressed concern that the conduct of the bank could lead to copycat crimes and put people’s lives in jeopardy.
NIB chief executive Andrew Healy issued a statement last night and said staff at the bank were being unfairly judged and that criticisms failed to adequately take account of “the dangerous, difficult and traumatic circumstances” staff found themselves in.
The minister was responding to reports that NIB failed to inform gardaí that one of its employees, and his family, had been taken hostage and that it had arranged with the kidnappers to give them access to the bank’s safe at its branch in Killester, North Dublin, in return for the family’s safety. The gang escaped with up to €300,000.
“Everyone who is aware of an offence has a duty to bring it to the attention of An Garda Síochána to protect innocent lives and to prevent that kind of offence from occurring in the future,” said the minister. “It would be deeply regrettable if anyone out there who had evil intentions or designs on financial institutions were to have any reason to believe the financial institution would fail in that duty to bring the matters immediately to the attention of An Garda Síochána.”
In a clear attack on NIB, he said: “I don’t think it requires my intervention to make it clear to everybody who runs a financial institution that, if any of these kinds of events take place, the safety of their staff, the public and the integrity of their institution requires them to co-operate immediately, and without fail, with An Garda Síochána. Any other policy would only attract repeat offences and put innocent people’s lives in danger.”
The minister’s criticisms of NIB followed private comments from senior gardaí, who believed they could have been informed by the bank without endangering the lives of the hostages.
Gardaí said they could have put a plan in place, mobilised the elite Emergency Response Unit, and pounced on the gangsters at the most appropriate time.
The criminals took NIB employee Graham Dunne, his mother and two teenage sisters, hostage at around 9.30pm on Monday. Mr Graham was ordered to ring his superiors in the bank and demand the safe at Killester be opened.
Mr Graham’s mother, Marion, and one of his sisters were taken to a field overnight while he was ordered to collect the money from the safe and bring it to a rendezvous point, which he did shortly after 10.30am on Tuesday.
Gardaí were notified after 11.30am, when Marion rang them after being released. Gardaí suspect the gang must have known the bank would accede to their demands, suggesting they may have had inside information about bank security procedures.
