Warning after private car seller duped by criminal gang

A CAR which was stolen near Mitchelstown last Monday when a bogus, would-be buyer asked to test drive it, has been found abandoned and burned out after being used by a Limerick gang to carry out a major robbery in Co Clare.

The high-powered English-registered, silver Vauxhall Vectra GSI model came to the attention a Limerick gang who have been scanning the Buy & Sell magazine and newspapers on the lookout for suitable get-away cars.

On Monday last, one gang member arranged to meet the owner of the Vauxhall Vectra after responding to an ad placed in Buy & Sell.

The unsuspecting vendor handed over the keys when the client asked for a “spin” to see what the car was like.

That was the last the car owner saw of his vehicle.

The car was next picked up on CCTV security cameras late on Tuesday night when the Limerick gang used sledge hammers to break into the Lidl store in Ennis shortly after the supermarket closed.

They got away with a large amount of cash and the Vauxhall Vectra was caught on camera speeding from the scene.

On Wednesday the car was found burned out near Newport, Co Tipperary.

Insp John O’Reilly of Henry Street station said a city-based gang are suspected of stealing the car and carrying out the robbery.

He said: “These travelling criminals use powerful cars to travel long distances, anywhere from the West of Ireland to Cork, carrying out crime.

“They steal cars on the pretext of test driving them before finalising a purchase. We are advising people advertising private car sales to ensure they meet with a potential buyer in a place which would be covered by CCTV such as a filling station. This will offer some protection as these people are unlikely to make off in a car having been filmed.”

Gang members are in their 20s, and the man who met the Mitchelstown car owner was 6ft 2in in height with a tattoo on his neck.