Shotgun and bleach used in burglary

Two men had bleach poured over them and one had a shotgun shoved into his mouth as their wives and one of their children looked on in what gardaí said was a "particularly violent" burglary.

The burglars were dressed as police — wearing a Garda fleece jacket and stab proof vests — when they forced their way into the Filipino couples’ home in Finglas, north Dublin, at 10.30pm on Thursday.

“This was a particularly violent burglary, very nasty” said a Garda source. “It was horrendous for the family, who are absolutely traumatised.”

Another source said the two couples and a 13-year-old daughter of one couple were tied up and threatened. A six-year-old girl of the other couple was asleep upstairs and did not wake.

The two men had Parozone bleach poured over them and one had a shotgun pushed into his mouth as the gang demanded cash. The other burglar brandished a knife. Gardaí are satisfied the gang targeted the wrong house as the couples were care workers and only had €300 in cash between them — which the criminals took.

Detectives suspect that, given the planning of the gang in the raid — the use of a stolen car with false plates, the Garda attire and the use of firearms — they thought were targeting the house of restaurant owners or owners of other large cash business.

There have been a number of such crimes recently. Earlier this month, Chinese restaurateur Wing Fu Cheung was stabbed to death in Co Antrim in a robbery. Gardaí are mystified why the gang targeted that house or that estate, Heathfield Way, saying none of the neighbours owned a restaurant.

Officers are hoping to gain from failures in the gang’s getaway. They abandoned their car, a dark Opel Insignia, in nearby Scribblestown. The criminals did not attempt to burn the car out. Officers hope to glean DNA and forensic evidence from it. Gardaí are also looking at CCTV footage.

The car had false plates, reg 12D 27638. The car, originally a 141 plate, was stolen in a burglary on January 6 in Ashbourne, Co Meath. Gardaí are asking anyone who saw the car to contact Finglas Station at 01 6667500.

Sinn Féin TD Dessie Ellis said: “For any family to be imprisoned in their own home and go through the mental torture of that is absolutely terrible.”