£56,000 stolen in post office raid

A gang stole £56,000 (€82,000) during a post office raid in Northern Ireland, a court heard today.

Four women and two men, with addresses in Dublin, were arrested as they were set to carry out their latest robbery, it was claimed.

One of the accused breast-fed her baby as all six stood in the dock at Ballymena Magistrates’ Court in Co Antrim.

The alleged thieves, aged between 16 and 40, were refused bail after police claimed they were illegal immigrants who may be operating under false names.

They had gone into a post office outlet within a Costcutters store in Castlerock, Co Derry, and stolen £56,000 (€82,000) in takings during a robbery on October 24 this year, it was alleged.

Detectives moved in on Tuesday when some of the gang were seen in another post office in Ballymoney, Co Antrim, the court heard.

All six were charged with planning to steal from those premises along with the theft of £155 (€226) from a Spar shop in Limavady, Co Derry, on the same date.

Only one of the six, 40-year-old Paula Miclescu, of Ulciston Crescent, Dublin, was not charged with the most serious theft. When accused of taking the £155 (€226), she replied: “I didn’t steal anything.”

As the charges were put to them by interpreters in the courtroom, another of the group, Monica Saradaru, 26, of Forbes Lane, Dublin, tried to comfort a sobbing infant in her arms.

Eventually, she resorted to breast-feeding in a bid to quieten the child.

She denied all the allegations against her, as did Dumitru Cristian Dumitru, 24, of Swiftbrook Avenue, Tallaght, Sorin Velcu, 19, of Wilkinstown Crescent, Dublin, Monica Serdaru, 25, of no fixed abode and a 16-year-old girl who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Lorna Livingstone, a constable with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, told the court she believed she could connect all six to the charges.

She said: “We believe these persons are asylum seekers in the Republic of Ireland. We believe they are in the UK illegally.

“They have not shown us any valid passport of visa to enter the UK.”

The officer added: “We cannot be certain that the names they have given are their true names and that’s under investigation at the minute.”

But a solicitor representing Ms Miclescu told the court that she had been living for three years in Dublin with a passport that she had used to travel to Romania and back again.

“She has a husband and seven children in Dublin, including one child born in the Republic of Ireland," the lawyer said.

“An address was also available for her in Belfast although she may encounter difficulties with the immigration services because she does not have a visa to enter Northern Ireland,” he added.

Another of his clients, Ms Saradaru, also lives with three children in Dublin, one of whom was born there, the court was told. “Her status is currently being determined by the authorities in the Republic, which is every reason to believe she will be granted resident status,” the solicitor said.

Magistrate Richard Wilson remanded the six in custody to appear again at Coleraine court on November 17.

Three of the group are also to be questioned by detectives investigating an unrelated matter.