Garda raids in Cork and Waterford closing in on bungling bookie burglars
Gardaí have carried out searches in Cork and Waterford as part of their investigation into an attempted robbery at a bookies which was thwarted by an 83-year-old customer.
Three men, believed to be in their late teens or early 20s, burst into Bar One Racing in Riverstown, Glanmire shorlty after 6pm last Saturday.
The men, who had their faces covered, were armed with hammers and what appeared to be a shotgun.
However, they were met with stern resistance from great-grandfather Denis O’Connor, who grappled with them and kicked one of them in the backside as they fled out the door.
Early yesterday morning, uniformed gardaí, detectives, and members armed members of the Regional Support Unit raided a house in the Riverstown area and removed a number items from it in evidence bags.
A garda spokesman said they carried out a number of searches in Cork and Waterford.
It is believed the getaway car used to flee the scene of the attempted raid may be one which was found burnt out in the Waterford area.
The garda spokesman said a number of items have been seized as part of their ongoing investigation, but no arrests have been made so far.
Footage of the octogenarian’s heroics went viral and he appeared on news bulletins all over the world.
Bar One Racing manager Tim Murphy also grappled with one of the raiders, who tried to hit him with a hammer after demanding that he hand over the contents of the safe.
