Gang hunted after cross-border hijack spree

Police on both sides of the Irish border were today hunting a criminal gang which went on a hijacking spree across Co Down and Co Armagh before crossing into the Republic.

The gang, branded highwaymen by a local politician, tied a rope around the neck of an elderly man and forced him to drive them across the border to Dundalk.

Irish police were investigating a link between the gang’s activities in the north and the later hijacking of an 81-year-old woman who suffered a serious leg injury when she was dragged from her car by a gang of youths.

The crime spree began when it was reported to police that a car, possibly stolen, had been set alight in Newcastle, Co Down, just before 4am yesterday.

Just over an hour later, a silver Vauxhall Astra was stolen from Tullymore Forest Park, in the foothills f the Mourne Mountains outside Newcastle.

The owner of the car was asleep in his caravan at a woodland caravan site when he was assaulted, suffering facial injuries, and had his car keys stolen.

Just after midday a woman was driving along the Newtownhamilton to Belleek Road in South Armagh when a silver Vauxhall Astra collided with her.

The occupants of the Astra tried to hijack a VW Polo from a woman, failed, and then seized a VW Sharan driven by a woman in her 50s.

The PSNI said a lorry blocked the road, forcing the thieves to crash the Sharan into a gully.

Undaunted, they hijacked a black Renault Laguna driven by a man in his 60s, who was assaulted, had a rope tied around his neck and was ordered to drive across the border to Dundalk.

Two of those involved in the crime spree were reported to be in their late teens or early 20s and to speak with strong southern accents.

No-one involved in the incidents north of the border were injured although some were badly shaken, said a PSNI spokesman.

Police on both sides of the border were working together to establish if all the incidents, north and south, were the work of the same group.

Danny Kennedy, Newry and Armagh MLA and deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, said the gang must be caught.

“A criminal gang operating in south Down and Co Armagh were rampaging around the area interfering with cars, stealing cars and at one stage kidnapping a gentleman.

“He had the traumatic experience of having a rope placed around his neck and being brought across the border.

“All of this was carried out in broad daylight by highwaymen intent on criminal damage. It was extremely frightening for all caught up in it.”

Urging local people to give any information they had to police to help catch those responsible, he said: “Highwaymen operating in broad daylight is unacceptable.”