A bench warrant has been issued for the arrest of a 14-year-old girl who, armed with just a magazine, took part in a spate of thefts where 12 unsuspecting people each had €200 stolen at bank ATMs.
The Romanian girl is the youngest member of a group that was involved in the ATM theft scam that employs the use of sleight of hand and distraction. Her prosecution involved nine gardaí and during the investigation she had been under Garda surveillance.
She was due in the Dublin Children's Court yesterday for sentencing, however Judge Thomas Fitzpatrick issued a bench warrant for her arrest when she failed to appear.
Garda Desmond Rogers of Pearse Street Garda station earlier said the victims were "in the process of withdrawing money, after they had put in their PIN they were distracted by people holding magazines and €200 was withdrawn from their accounts."
The girl, then aged 13, acted with older people aged 14 to 17, and on some occasions she was with an adult relative. The girl, who does not go to school, had taken part in the theft of €2,600 from 12 people. So far €1,050 has yet to be recovered.
She had pleaded guilty to 13 charges for thefts at ATMs, one criminal damage charge, two for possession of magazines as articles for use in the course of thefts and an assault charge.
The thefts happened at ATMs at Dublin's College Green, O'Connell Street, Merrion Road, Grafton Street and at St Stephen's Green, between February 14th and May 16th last, often when she was out on bail.
The court heart that her family hoped that she would be enrolled in school from September.
She had been given bail with strict conditions stating that she "must not loiter near any ATM and not enter the Dublin 1 or Dublin 2 areas" and she has to obey a curfew to be indoors at her home between 8pm to 8am daily.
The court had heard how the scam works.
Step one: A person goes to the ATM, inserts the bank card and then keys in the pin number.
Step two: Just then, the person is approached by people who wave a magazine in front of his face and blocks the ATM screen and keypad.
Step three: While the person is distracted one of them, unseen, presses the ATM buttons to withdraw €200. The money pops out and is taken swiftly while the account holder is distracted and oblivious to what is happening.
Step four: Eventually the thief backs off, the person looks at the screen which reads "transaction completed" but sees no money. However, a subsequent check of their bank balance later shows that €200 has been withdrawn.