Thief to be sentenced for part in raid where father was held in van with two young children

A father-of-five is to be sentenced today for his part in a raid in which a Dublin bank manager’s husband and two small children were held captive in a van.

Michael Mc Guirk of Captain’s Road, Crumlin, pleaded guilty to the robbery at Bank of Ireland in Inchicore on October 23, 2009 in which more than €200,000 was taken.

Bank of Ireland branch officer Nicola Hall was woken by masked and armed raiders at her home in Lucan on the night before the robbery.

A gun was put to her husband's face and he was tied up and kept in a van with his two children for five hours.

Nicola Hall was instructed to go to work later that morning and behave as normal until the bank vault’s time lock came off at 11.30am.

She put more than €200,000 in a bag and drove the money to a specified location.

DNA tests and fingerprints linked Michael McGuirk to the van and a phone box in Dublin where an anonymous 999 call was made at 1pm about the three captives.

The 45-year-old was the only raider to be caught. He pleaded guilty to robbery and is due to be sentenced.