Bloody surprise for post office armed robber

IMAGINE the look on an armed robber’s face when he examined the spoils of a post office raid.

The balaclava-clad gunman had burst into the post office in Grenagh, Co Cork, yesterday afternoon.

But things immediately started to go wrong.

The postmaster tried to explain all the cash was in a safe — and it was time-locked. And there was no way the postmaster could hand over the cash, even if he wanted to.

Frustrated, the raider decided to help himself to two boxes in the post offices, no doubt hoping they contained something valuable.

But gardaí revealed the so-called loot consisted of “test tubes containing blood and urine samples taken from cattle”.

The boxes had been dropped into the post office, by a local vet, shortly before the raid.

Armed with a handgun, the man had entered the post office at around 2.10pm when there was nobody else in the building, apart from the middle-aged postmaster.

The robber waved the gun menacingly in the postmaster’s face and demanded cash. When he didn’t get it, he fled the scene on foot with the boxes under his arm. Gardaí believe he may have had an accomplice waiting nearby, either in a car or on a motorcycle.

Superintendent Con Cadogan, who is leading the garda investigation, said a number of roadblocks were set up in the area. The checkpoints were set up on main and minor roads in the Blarney and Mallow areas.

The armed Regional Support Unit was also brought in to help in the hunt for the robber.

“We are anxious to hear from anybody who was in the vicinity of Grenagh post office and who may have seen this man. There should have been a lot of people in the area at the time, especially as some parents would have been to collect junior infants from the local school,” Supt Cadogan said.

He added that gardaí were also anxious to hear from anybody who might have come across the boxes, because there is little doubt the raider will have thrown them away in disgust.

“The postmaster wasn’t hurt but he was traumatised by the incident,” Supt Cadogan said.

nContact Gurranabraher Garda Station at 021 4946200.