Bank staff warned over becoming key holders

BANK staff should “think carefully” before agreeing to become key holders following the latest ‘tiger kidnapping’, the bank officials’ body said yesterday.

The Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) said staff were increasingly being seen as “soft targets” by criminals and called on Tánaiste and Justice Minister Michael McDowell to address the issue.

“IBOA members throughout Ireland are genuinely concerned for their safety and well-being as a result of these robberies,” said IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick.

“It is clear that there is a growing trend whereby bank staff are regarded as particularly vulnerable and viewed as ‘soft targets’ by criminal groups.”

Mr Broderick called on Mr McDowell to set up a joint working group involving gardaí, the Department of Justice, the banking and security industry and staff representatives.

“There is an urgent need to address this issue and the IBOA would strongly advise members to think very carefully before agreeing to act as key holders,” he said.

He called for a fundamental review of current key holder policy, which was clearly putting bank officials lives, and those of their families, at risk.

He added: “Serious action needs to be taken now before an individual bank official or member of their family is seriously injured or worse.”

Meanwhile in Donegal, gardaí investigating last Thursday’s tiger kidnapping suspect the culprits spent some time casing the victims’ home in the weeks prior to the actual crime.

Detectives hope neighbours in the Grove Cottages estate in Muff, on the border with Northern Ireland, may have seen people acting suspiciously in the area.

The male occupant of the house, a manager of McDonald’s Restaurant in Derry, was held hostage while his partner, assistant manager at the take-away, was ordered to drive to the eatery and remove the takings.

The woman handed over the cash at a rendezvous point along the border, at which stage her partner was released.

“In most of these kidnappings, a good deal of planning goes into them,” said Sergeant John O’Keeffe of Buncrana Garda Station. “They appear to carry out surveillance of the victims’ homes in the weeks, or even months, prior to the actual event.”

He appealed to anyone who might remember seeing anything around the victims’ home to contact them. He said it was a medium-size estate and that people in the area would notice strange activity.

Two armed and masked raiders entered the victims’ home shortly after 7pm on Thursday and tied up the man.

When his girlfriend returned home from work, they gave her instructions to go back to the restaurant in Derry’s Waterside, remove the takings and drive to a rendezvous point.

Her partner was taken from the house and bundled into a car, which was driven around for half an hour until the cash was handed over.

“The time this happened, there would certainly have been people out and about, out walking, going to the petrol station in Muff,” said Sgt O’Keeffe.

The woman drove her partner’s Ford Fiesta estate car, registration number UIW 111.

Her own car, a yellow-green coloured Honda, registration letters GNZ, was used by the kidnappers to hold her partner. It was found burnt out at around 9pm on a back road in the nearby townland of Sappagh, close to the border.

He said that given the level of knowledge the raiders had, they must have either spent a long time in the area or knew the area well.

He said gardaí had a “completely open mind” on whether the raiders were criminals or paramilitaries.

Gardaí would not say how much cash was taken, but Sgt O’Keeffe said it was relatively small amount given the seriousness of the offence committed.

Some reports suggested around stg£3,000 (€4,500) was taken.