Ram gang may have slipped net

An armed gang that stole two old masters worth more than £3m from an art collection in Co Wicklow were tonight thought to have slipped out of the area - despite having to flee on foot.

The three men who staged a ram raid on Russborough House, 20 miles from Dublin in Co Wicklow, failed in a bid to hijack a car at gunpoint after they set fire to their own getaway vehicle minutes after the robbery.