Gardai injured in Wicklow ram-raid incident

A gang of raiders in two 4x4 vehicles today carried out an attempted ram-raid robbery on a petrol service station in Co Wicklow.

One of the vehicles, a Toyata Landcruiser which had earlier been stolen in the Kilpedder area, was driven into the front doors of the Topaz garage in Kilcoole at around 3.15am in an attempt remove the store’s cash machine.

However, despite several efforts to extract the ATM the intruders were eventually forced to flee empty-handed.

A Garda 4x4 patrol vehicle, which had been alerted to the incident, arrived on the scene as the raiders were attempting to make their escape.

The Garda vehicle was rammed head-on by the gang’s other vehicle, a BMW X5, and then reversed into by the Toyata Landcruiser.

The two gardaí in the patrol vehicle were treated in Loughlinstown Hospital for minor injuries following the incident.

A Garda spokesman said there was “a sustained effort” to cause injury and that if the gardaí had been in a car at the time they would have almost certainly have been seriously hurt.

The garage, which was closed at the time, was extensively damaged in the raid. It is understood the ATM had been refilled with cash only hours before the raid.