Post office worker ‘feared for life’ in raid

A POSTMISTRESS at Lusk Post Office who was working on the morning of an armed raid told Dublin City Coroner’s Court yesterday that she feared for her life when she realised what was happening.

Ms Linda Neary was one of four post office employees and two auditors who gave evidence yesterday.

She told the court she had no prior notice of the raid and began work at 7.35am on the morning of May 26.

She received a delivery of cash at 7.55am, which, she told the court, was earlier than usual, but otherwise she noticed nothing suspicious.

She had just let Tim Murphy, a member of the audit team who was carrying out an audit on Lusk Post Office that day, into her office when she heard a knock and someone say ‘Gardaí, open up’.

Two men wearing blue caps and yellow singlets and they identified themselves to Ms Neary as gardaí and told Ms Neary there was a raid in progress.

One garda then ran past her into the sorting office.

It was then that Ms Neary witnessed a raider wearing a black balaclava come toward the post office from the deli area of the supermarket.

“The raider was running and he had a sledgehammer in his hands. I was in fear of my life. I was terrified. The Garda managed to close the door. I ran into the corner of my office and huddled down with Timmy Murphy.”

She heard banging against the hatch of the front window of the post office and the next thing the glass started “spraying” into the office.

“I was absolutely terrified. I could hear shouting and roaring. I think he said, ‘open up, open up. Give us your money’, or words to that effect.”

“Then I heard ‘Armed garda, armed garda’ – or words to that effect….. and then ‘drop your weapons’.

“The sledge hammer was coming through. He was pounding with the sledge hammer.”

She then heard gunshots, which she described as being a different noise to the banging.

“I think the banging stopped after what were gunshots.”

Then someone instructed Ms Neary to call a doctor.

She could see out the hatch that a man was on the ground and people were giving him CPR.

She heard him saying he couldn’t breathe and he was given oxygen.

Auditor, Tim Murphy was in the office when Gardaí came to the front of the post office.

Suddenly he saw Linda run away from the door to the end of the office, he told the court.

“I was lying on the floor. I heard shouts and bangs. I couldn’t see anything… I was shaking all the time of the incident. I was in fear of my life. I thought my days were numbered.”

“At that stage there was a lot of noise. I presumed it was gunfire. It could have been three or four shots. I kept my head down all the time… we all did.”

He said all he could think of was “I hope they don’t get into the office”, and said very extreme violence would have been needed to do that damage.

Post office employees Glen Miller, Tony Pyne and Sean Buckley also gave evidence, as did auditor Bernard Meehan.