Armed gang steal €10,000 in raid on greyhound track

Gardaí are searching for an armed and masked gang who held up staff at a greyhound track in Co Kildare in front of schoolchildren.

The management of Newbridge Greyhound Stadium said that children from Gaelscoil Chill Dara were "shocked and upset" by the incident which occurred during a benefit night at the track on Saturday.

The four men stole an estimated €10,000 from the Tote. Most of the proceeds of the evening were supposed to go to the school Gaelscoil Chill Dara, which is based outside Newbridge town and has almost 400 pupils.

Four men entered the stadium wearing balaclavas and gloves at around 10.30pm just as the benefit night was ending. One was armed with a double- barrelled shotgun and another with a slash hook. The other two men were unarmed.

Staff and patrons were threatened during the course of the robbery. No shots were fired and nobody was injured. The robbers made their getaway in a blue BMW. The car was located at 1am at Roseberry, Newbridge. Local units from Newbridge Garda station were assisted by the Garda Air Support Unit in their investigation, which is continuing. No arrests have yet been made.

Gardaí are now investigating whether there is a link between Saturday night's raid and a similar one which occurred on a Saturday night in September, when three armed men held staff at gunpoint before making off with a small amount of cash.

Then a member of security staff was kicked by one of the raiders. When their getaway car failed to start, they stole a taxi and drove off, having held the driver at gunpoint.

Gardaí at Newbridge are appealing for information.