GARDAÍ HAVE appealed for assistance in investigating an aggravated burglary at the home of well-known solicitor Gerald Kean and his partner Lisa Murphy at their home in Co Wicklow.
It is thought jewellery worth in excess of half a million euro was taken in the raid.
Four masked men pushed their way into the isolated house near Brittas Bay as Ms Murphy deactivated an alarm on arriving home shortly after 8pm on Thursday.
Mr Kean was not in the house at the time and had been scheduled to meet Ms Murphy at an engagement later in the evening.
Mr Kean said after he got to the house at about 10pm he heard Ms Murphy screaming and found her tied to a chair in an upstairs bedroom of the sprawling property. He said he became anxious because she had not turned up for the engagement with friends and was not answering her phone.
The couple immediately called gardaí and sought medical aid, and were being comforted by friends and family at the house yesterday.
Mr Kean said the ordeal had been particularly traumatising for his partner, who told him she had been treated roughly. He said they wrenched a diamond ring from her finger before demanding: “Where is Michael’s ring?”
This is taken to be a reference to a 10 carat diamond engagement ring given to Ms Murphy by a previous boyfriend, dancer Michael Flatley. In 2006 after Ms Murphy split from Mr Flatley, the ring was reported to be worth in the region of half a million euro.
Mr Kean said there was “no insurance” on the stolen items as the couple had just had building work done on the house and the conditions required for the insurance had yet to be put in place.
According to Mr Kean, the intruders had demanded the combination of a safe in the property, and threatened Ms Murphy, saying the robbery could be done “the hard way” if she so chose.
Ms Murphy had been bound to the chair by plastic tape, with her hands tied together. She said none of the men had Dublin or Cork accents, which she would have recognised. She gave the intruders the code of the safe and they then threw her on the ground. She was hit on the head when she tried to look at them.
All four men were said to be dressed in balaclavas with combat fatigues and were in their late 20s or early 30s, Mr Kean said.
“Thank God, physically she’s fine, other than a few cuts and bruises,” the solicitor said. “It’s hard to put it into words, but everybody is here now and we’re just trying to mind her and look after her as best we can.”
A number of gardaí searched the hillside around the house with grass cutters and metal detectors yesterday afternoon.
The house is protected by a recently built 7ft stone wall with the name Drayton Manor set in a brick surround.
Large wrought iron gates with floral motifs are overseen by a closed-circuit television network and four lights.
Building work on granite cobbled paving from the road to the gates was incomplete, and further building work could be seen on the driveway inside.
Speaking to reporters as he drove a Bentley car from the house yesterday, Mr Kean said security was being upgraded. “There is only so much you can do,” he said, adding his attitude to criminals would not change. It had always been “zero tolerance”, he said.
Gardaí are appealing to any witnesses who were in the area between 7pm and 9pm on Thursday to contact them on 0404-60140, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or at any Garda station.