Leader is believed to be hiding in Dublin

GARDAÍ were zeroing in on the gang behind the Kilkenny tiger kidnapping last night and the criminal boss who is thought to have gone into hiding in his base in Dublin.

Attempts to track the gang were being made through examining the phone of Bank of Ireland employee Adrian Ronan, which he used to ring a number the robbers were on during the attempted robbery.

Gardaí also carried out a forensic trawl of the Ronan’s family home in Michael’s Church, Ballycallan, in a bid to identify the robbers.

The Irish Examiner has learned that gardaí were immediately alerted to the forced robbery by branch staff who became suspicious when Adrian had his three young children with him when he walked into the bank to get the cash at 11am on Wednesday morning.

Mr Ronan had been ordered to remove €3 million from the bank.

His wife Mary, who had been abducted at gunpoint from the family home, was taken to a weather station on Grange Road, while the three children, all aged under 10 years old went with their father to the bank.

But it was another three hours later before the gang finally became “spooked’” and fled.

The gang are thought to have become anxious because of the delay in getting the cash. When they spoke last with Adrian at 2pm, he told them he was only able to get €200,000 because of time-locks in the branch.

The gunman holding Ms Ronan panicked and fired a warning shot near her. He fled the holding place not long after and the mother-of-three managed to free her bound hands, leave the building, and was picked up by a passing garda squad car.

Shortly afterwards, gardaí moved in and the kidnapping and attempted raid was officially deemed over by 2.30pm.

While initially it was thought the gang might have been from the south-east, a Dublin-based group are now the main suspects. It is also thought a local Kilkenny or neighbouring county criminal was used as a partner in the robbery due to the tactics and knowledge of the criminals.

It is understood Gardaí were able to speak with members of the Ronan family yesterday in an attempt to get descriptions of those involved in the raid.

The family continued to be comforted by relations in Kilkenny last night.