PSNI and gardaí investigate business kidnapping in Belfast

A cross-border investigation has been launched into the kidnapping of a security worker’s wife and son.

An armed gang forced their way into the victims’ home in Lagmore, west Belfast, at around 10pm on Wednesday night.

They abducted a woman and her teenage son while her husband, who works for a cash in transit company, was forced to attend work as usual on Thursday.

The gang then made off with what the PSNI said was a substantial sum of cash - believed to be £200,000 - from his vehicle on Thursday afternoon.

Police were only alerted to the incident yesterday evening.

The woman and her son were later found across the border by gardaí responding to a report of a burnt-out van on the Castleblayney Road in Co Monaghan at around 8pm.

A PSNI spokesman said: “The family were not injured but are extremely traumatised following their ordeal.”

Both the PSNI and the Gardaí are investigating, and have appealed for information.