Terrified guests locked in fridge during armed raid on hotel

TERRIFIED hotel guests were locked in a fridge during an early morning armed raid.

Gardaí were last night searching for the armed gang who carried out the robbery at the Arklow Bay Hotel in Co Wicklow.

Five raiders armed with hatchets, hurleys and iron bars entered the premises just after 4.30am and confronted the night porter at the 92-bedroom hotel.

They demanded access to cash but only managed to break into the tills during the 30-minute raid.

However, the noise and commotion woke two guests sleeping in a nearby bedroom.

When the married couple, understood to be in their mid-50s and from Co Clare, emerged from the bedroom they were grabbed by the raiders and tied up. They were then placed in a fridge in the main kitchen, while the night porter was also tied up and left in the kitchen.

It is understood the raiders made off with only a few hundred euro as they were unable to gain access to the safes, which were time-locked.

The porter later managed to free himself and quickly released the guests from the fridge. Other staff who were arriving for work then raised the alarm and contacted gardaí. The raiders also stole the couple’s 4x4.

Brian Brennan, owner of the Brennan Hotel Group, said the incident had been a “a frightening and harrowing experience” for the guests and the night porter.

“Thankfully we have very, very strong security systems in the group and they were only able to gain access to the floats that were in the tills,” he told RTÉ’s News At One.

“They tried to gain access into the main safe and caused quite a commotion but it was impossible to gain entry, and while this commotion was going on they disturbed a couple of residents who were sleeping in the room closest to the reception desk.

“These people arrived out of the room and they were accosted and they were literally tied up and they were locked in one of the fridges in the main kitchen.”

Mr Brennan paid tribute to the night porter, who he said showed calm when confronted by the raiders.

He said three weddings had taken place in the hotel over the weekend but the gang could not access that money because of the time-locked security systems in place.

A local couple were due to celebrate their wedding in the hotel yesterday.

Mr Brennan said the incident had been a traumatic experience, and added: “Unfortunately it is a sign of the times.”

The robbers used the 4x4 belonging to the couple as part of their getaway, turning left out of the hotel entrance, while the car that the gang arrived in turned right on the coast road towards Brittas Bay.

Garda crime and forensic teams arrived at the hotel to examine the scene and search for fingerprints and other evidence that may help them track down the gang.

Local Labour Cllr Nicky Kelly said that the townspeople were shocked at the news.

“This is a well known hotel with a fantastic reputation for catering for locals and visitors,” said Mr Kelly.

“Fortunately no one was seriously injured in the robbery.”