Armed raiders tackled in shop
The owner of Dawson Jewellers, in Dublin city centre, disarmed a raider brandishing a shotgun and hit him during a struggle.
A quick-thinking passerby managed to trip up a second robber as he tried to flee the shop, while a third raider was nabbed by gardaí who arrived within minutes.
The dramatic incident happened at lunchtime on Dawson Street, a busy avenue near St Stephen’s Green.
It’s understood the first raider walked into the shop on his own, posing as a potential customer. He asked to see a number of items, including rings.
A short time later two men, one armed with a shotgun, entered and demanded rings, watches and bracelets that had been taken out of protected cases to show the ‘customer’.
It is understood at this stage the owner of the shop entered. He was threatened by the gunman, but disarmed him and somehow managed to remove the cartridges.
There was a struggle in which the raider suffered serious head injuries.
A man passing saw the robbery in progress and tripped up one of the raiders as he came out and then held onto him as gardaí began to arrive.
Some of the gardaí came from specialist armed units based on the other side of St Stephen’s Green, on Harcourt Street, and were there within minutes.
One raider, aged in his 30s, was taken to hospital. The other two men were taken into custody.
The jewellers is just a few doors up from the Lord Mayor’s residence at the Mansion House.
A garda spokesman said: “Gardaí have arrested two males following an attempted armed robbery on a jewellers shops on Dawson Street at approximately 12.30pm. Three males entered the shop, one was armed with a firearm. They were confronted by members of staff and the public. Gardaí responded and arrested two males, one in his 20s and another in his 40s.
“The arrested males were detained in Pearse St Garda station under Section 30 Offences Against the State Act 1939 as amended. The third male in his 30s required hospital treatment and was taken to St James’s Hospital.”
It is understood he was transferred to the specialist head injury unit in Beaumont Hospital with a suspected fractured skull.
Experts from the Garda Technical Bureau examined the shop during the afternoon.
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