Family held hostage for shop cash

Hostage takers ordered a woman to clear cash from a shop today while her husband and daughter were held captive.

The gang, who took over the family’s home in the west of Belfast, escaped with a sports bag full of money.

Three masked men went into the house at St Agnes, Andersonstown, just after 7am and held the teenage girl and her father, police said.

They forced the woman to go to her workplace on the Boucher Road industrial estate, about two miles away, and take a sum of money.

She was instructed to take it to a drop-off point at Colin Glen Forest, near Pembrook Loop in Poleglass, west Belfast.

Police have yet to disclose how much was in the holdall, which was picked up by the gang.

None of the family is thought to have been injured.

Investigating detectives have urged any witnesses to contact police at Grosvenor Road station.

It is understood that tens of thousands of pounds was stolen.

Police later confirmed one of the hostage takers was armed with a handgun.

The robbery happened days after a family were held captive at their north Belfast home by a gang who forced the mother to go to her bank in the west of the city and remove cash.

The latest attack led to calls for police to hunt down the thieves before more raids are carried out.

Alex Attwood, a nationalist SDLP MLA for West Belfast, said: “This is a terrible ordeal and trauma for the family.

“This requires anyone in the community to quickly assist the police and for everyone to encourage people to do so.

“This type of incident is too frequent and the risk of copycat incidents in the run-up to Christmas means that the police must be helped to stamp this out.”