Shot man was known criminal

A man was shot dead by undercover gardaí today after an elite organised crime squad foiled an armed hold-up.

Gareth Molloy, 27, was gunned down and an accomplice wounded as five men launched a midday heist outside a shop in a quiet suburban housing estate in west Dublin.

Gardaí moved in as the men, at least one armed with a sawn-off shotgun, targeted a cash-in-transit crew delivering money to an ATM in the busy Centra store on Foxborough Road, Lucan.

Officers opened fire at least three times, shooting two men.

The men have been under surveillance for months by detectives investigating cash-in-transit thefts and tiger-kidnappings including the country’s biggest robbery – a €7m raid on Bank of Ireland’s landmark branch in College Green last February.

Two of the gang are related to one of Dublin’s most notorious criminals.

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said gardaí involved would have the public’s full support.

“Today’s incident is a reminder of the dangers faced by members of An Garda Siochana in carrying out their duties and their courage in confronting those dangers,” the Minister said.

Four other men, all in their 20s, were arrested at the scene and the shotgun and a stolen car were recovered.

Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy briefed Mr Ahern on the surveillance operation and killing within an hour of the shooting.

Mr Ahern added the death was regretted but insisted he had no doubt gardaí had the full backing of the community in taking the necessary action when confronted by armed gangs.

The Garda Ombudsman has launched a separate investigation after a request from Commissioner Murphy and investigators from the office joined forensic teams at the scene. Several roads through the normally quiet housing estate and cul-de-sacs remained sealed off for several hours.

Molloy, of Lower Sheriff Street, north inner city Dublin, was a known gangster and in 2003 was sentenced to six years for firearms offences but had four-and-a-half years suspended on condition he attended drug rehab.

In 2004, he was given a five-year suspended sentence for traffic offences and had a long list of convictions for minor offences.

One shocked neighbour, who asked not to be named, said she had left the shop minutes before she heard at least three gun shots.

“It just happened so fast,” she said.

“I came out of my front door and cars were flying up and down everywhere. There were police cars everywhere.”

It is almost four years since elite gardaí from the Emergency Response Unit were involved in a similar incident, shooting dead two armed robbers, Colm Griffin and Eric Hopkins, during a post office raid in Lusk, north Co Dublin. The gang that day had also been under surveillance.

The latest attack targeted a cash-in-transit van from the Group 4 Securicor firm as staff delivered money to an in-store ATM. The five men swooped after the van was reversed up to a steel door at the side of the shop.

Garda sources said one of the gang was also the prime suspect in a robbery on a cash-in-transit van in Tyrrelstown, north Dublin last November when two men held up delivery staff outside the TSB and made off on a motorbike with a substantial amount of cash.

The four arrested men were taken to garda stations in Lucan and Ronanstown for questioning and they are all being held under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, the anti-terror and crime laws.