Gardaí foil tiger kidnapping attempt

GARDAÍ managed to thwart a tiger kidnapping after they were alerted to suspicious activity at a north Dublin post office.

And in Kilkenny, gardaí are hunting a gang that used a stolen JCB to rip down part of a post office and remove a safe. However, when they opened the safe they found nothing inside.

The couple subjected to the abduction were reunited yesterday after their kidnappers aborted their robbery of Balbriggan post office.

Three armed men forced their way into the couple’s house in St Andrew’s Park, in Swords, north Dublin, at about 11pm on Tuesday.

The man was taken away in a car and tied to a tree at Kettle’s Lane off the Old Airport Road.

At 8.30am, his partner was ordered to go to the post office, where she worked as an assistant, as usual and withdraw a substantial amount of cash.

It is understood someone noticed something suspicious and alerted gardaí.

The gang members who followed her to the scene became suspicious and left by the time gardaí arrived.

The couple were physically unharmed but were psychologically traumatised.

Gardaí are appealing to the public for information, particularly anyone who saw suspicious activity in the St Andrews Park area and Balbriggan post office overnight or early yesterday.

People can contact Balbriggan Garda Station on 01 8020510 or can ring the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.

Meanwhile, in Kilkenny, gardaí suspect a local crew, or a gang with local knowledge, carried out an unsuccessful robbery at a post office in Castlecomer.

The gang stole a JCB from Carlow on Tuesday night which they used to pull down part of the post office wall before removing a small safe into a getaway vehicle. However, gardaí said the safe was empty.