Witnesses tell of dramatic pub raid

A spent shotgun cartridge lying beside a pool of blood outside The Goat pub, in Goatstown, Dublin, yesterday told the story of one of the most dramatic armed raids the city has seen in recent years.

A seat cushion and sheets, both soaked in blood, also lay nearby. In the moments after the popular publican, Mr Charlie Chawke, was shot just after 12.30 p.m., both had been taken from The Goat by frantic staff and customers and used to try and stem the blood from the victim's leg wound.

Mr Chawke was removing the weekend's takings from The Goat yesterday afternoon when the raiders struck. He had parked his car just outside the premises, as he always did, and was about to leave the scene when the raiders got out of their red Volkswagen Polo car, ran towards him, and demanded the money.

Mr Chawke's friend, Mr Oliver McDonald, was with the publican when he was shot. He said he feared for his life during the raid.

"They shouted over to Charlie to give the money . . . I shouted to free him and not shoot. He left the money there for them to take it." However, the raiders ignored the plea and shot Mr Chawke in the leg.

"There was a lot of blood coming from Charlie's leg. He was in very heavy pain. He was lying across the car and there was blood running down the side of the car," said Mr McDonald.

Mr James McCoy, the manager of the Black Tie outlet across the road from The Goat, said the raid was over in moments.

"We heard a bang and went to have a look, and we could see there was a man lying on the ground. We saw one of the (raiders) running towards a red car that had been parked there for a while. Just as they sped off a Garda car came along."

"One of the guards jumped out of the car, hopped over the railings, and talked to the man on the ground for second. He then got back into the Garda car and it went after the other car. At that stage a lot of people had come out of the pub. Within no more than a minute there were six or seven Special Branch cars flying up and down the road." The gardaí chased the raiders as far as Upper Kilmacud Road. At that point the armed pair's lack of local knowledge sealed their fate. They turned into the Stillorgan Heath housing estate only to find it is a warren of cul de sacs.

One of the estate's residents, who preferred not to be named, told The Irish Times: "When they got as far as the bollards at the end of the cul de sac, they could go no further in the car. They jammed on and jumped out. By that stage a Garda car had come flying up the road after them. One of the guys stopped and turned and shot at the Garda car. The two of them then ran into the heath. But at that stage a good few marked and unmarked cars had arrived and there seemed to be gardaí on foot running into the heath from different directions. The guys with the guns ran towards Brewery Road, but they were caught and brought back to their car handcuffed within a few minutes. One of them seemed to be bleeding from his ear.

"The guards sat them on the kerb by the car, put on plastic gloves and searched them. They must have taken away about 10 big paper bags of evidence."

Charlie Chawke: business empire

Mr Charlie Chawke is one of the best known and most successful publicans in the State, owning a number of pubs and being behind a number of significant commercial developments.

A 31 million development plan for the site of The Goat pub and restaurant, in Goatstown, Dublin, was given the thumbs down a number of times by the planning authorities. The plan envisaged offices, retail outlets and apartments. Mr Chawke has also been involved in the recent transformation of a former AIB branch on College Green, Dublin, into one of the city's latest superpubs, The Bank. The bank branch was bought for 4.2 million and a further 2.5 million was spent refurbishing it. Mr Chawke's other interests include The Dropping Well, Milltown, the Lord Lucan in Lucan, The Oval in Middle Abbey Street, all in Dublin, and Chawkes in Adare, Co Limerick.

Mr Chawke was in the news two years ago when he was brought before the courts on a drink-driving charge. He was suspended from driving for six months when he appeared in the District Court but the conviction was subsequently overturned on appeal to Dublin Circuit Court.

Mr Chawke is a director of four companies, Charjon Investments Ltd, Alazwar Ltd, College Inns Ltd and Milltown Inns Ltd. Charjon, which has a mortgage charged against the The Goat, made an operating profit of 110,029 in the year to March 31st, 2002, according to filed, unaudited accounts. Directors' pay and pension contributions were €232,565. The directors are Mr Chawke and Ms Bernice Chawke.

Milltown Inns has a mortgage against the Dropping Well pub. The company is owned by members of the Chawke family and the directors are Mr and Ms Chawke. The financial statements for the year to May 31st, 2001, do not give a profit figure. Cash in the bank on May 31st, 2001, was 929,000. Mr Chawke and Mr Edward Bohan, Orwell Park, Rathgar, Dublin 6, are joint shareholders in Alazwar Ltd, a company associated with the Oval Bar, Abbey Street, Dublin.

The latest accounts do not give a profit for the year but the accumulated profits figure was 403,727 at July 31st, 2002. Mr Chawke and Mr Simon Bailey, Grange Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16, are joint shareholders in College Inns, Ltd, the company associated with The Bank. - Colm Keena