Couple assaulted during botched robbery in Co Offaly

Gardaí are searching for a five-man gang who assaulted a couple and damaged a patrol car during a bothced burglary in Co Offaly overnight.

The masked raiders, who were carrying baseball bats and metal bars, were disturbed by the couple as they attempted to rob a house on the Ballycumber Road in Ferbane.

They assaulted the pair before also attacking a garda car that arrived on the scene, smashing the windscreen and mirrors.

The gang then escaped in a waiting car fitted with false registration plates.