Young man questioned after terrifying aggravated burglary

Gardaí were questioning a young man yesterday in connection with an aggravated burglary in which a mother and her toddler son were left traumatised.

The arrest followed a terrifying raid on a family home near Tara, Co Meath, shortly after 11pm on Wednesday.

Four armed and masked men forced their way into the house, armed with what is believed to be a small handgun, a knife and an axe. They threatened the woman living there, who was with her three-year-old son. Gardaí said neither were injured.

“They proceeded to ransack the house and took a number of legally held firearms, ammunition and assorted personal property,” said a Garda spokesman.

The gang also took the owner’s car, which was later found abandoned near the M50.

In a follow-up operation, gardaí from Ashbourne Station searched properties in the Rathmines area of south Dublin at around 1am yesterday morning.

They found a number of firearms, together with other assorted property. A black BMW car was also recovered, which was the subject of a hijacking incident in Dublin city centre on Tuesday.

A 22-year-old man was arrested at the scene and is detained at Terenure Garda Station under the provisions of Section 30 Offences Against the State Act 1939.

In a separate investigation, gardaí are questioning two men, aged 20 and 28, suspected of hijacking a taxi from Castleknock, north Dublin, early yesterday morning.

Meanwhile, gardaí at Laytown, Co Meath, are investigating suspicious activity at a vacant house in the Mornington area following reports of a stolen car been abandoned by a number of men. An 18-year-old man was arrested.