Fleeing thief runs into the law
The raider, who was chased by a staff member, struggled for several minutes before finally giving in. He was arrested and was helping gardaí with their enquiries last night.
The drama unfolded in the city centre yesterday morning.
The man, in his late 20s and from Limerick, walked into the Castle Jewellers shop at 26 Castle Street at around 10am.
Unmasked, and wearing a blue jumper, he asked staff member Julie Riordan, 25, if he could view some jewellery.
She watched as he tried on a chunky gold bracelet worth about €2,500, and a gold ring worth about €500. “He stood there for a few minutes and then he just ran,” Ms Riordan said.
As he tried to escape, he struck one of the shop’s double doors, shattering the glass. But he gathered himself quickly and fled on foot. Staff members pressed the panic button but Ms Riordan set off in pursuit.
The raider ran up Castle Street, towards the city’s circuit courthouse where a high-profile, high-security arms trial is under way. Several armed plain-clothes detectives, as well as several uniformed gardaí, were on duty in the area at the time and the raider ran right into their midst.
They cornered and overpowered him quickly. The jewellery was recovered.
Shaken and shocked, Ms Riordan said she was “grand” after herordeal. Her boyfriend, Fergal O’Shea, who is on a diving holiday in Australia, helped.
He had arranged for the delivery of a dozen red roses which arrived at the shop less than an hour after the attempted raid.
“They’re beautiful. They really cheered me up. And he’s promised me an expensive holiday soon,” Ms Riordan said.
And while lovers around the country booked into hotel rooms, the raider spent last night alone, in a spartan single-bed cell in the Bridewell garda station.
Susan Byrne, the co-owner of the jewellery shop, praised Ms Riordan and the gardaí. “This isn’t the first time we’ve been robbed,” she said.
“It’s like Deadwood here, it’s lawless. But the guards did respond very quickly. They were here in seconds.”
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