ONE of the armed robbers gardai arrested at a Waterford bank yesterday had been released early from prison on the undertaking that he would live in Australia. He had served only two years of a six year sentence for armed robbery.
His arrest prompted renewed Opposition party calls last night for restrictions on the temporary release scheme for prisoners, and the provision of more prison places. A Garda spokesman described his release as an absolute scandal.
The arrested man. nicknamed "Billy the Kid" and from Waterford, was granted early release on the grounds that he live with his family. now in Sydney. Australia. He holds an Australian passport.
He was placed on board an Aer Lingus flight to Brussels for a flight to Australia on December 20th. Instead, he returned to Ireland. Garda surveillance officers detected his return when he contacted other criminals.
Local gardai. supported by specialist armed officers from the Garda's Emergency Response Unit (ERU), arrested him, along with two other known criminals from Crumlin, Dublin, at the Bank of Ireland on the Quay at Waterford at 11.30 a.m. yesterday. Gardai fired a warning shot before one raider dropped a loaded pump action shotgun.
There was panic in the bank as gardai closed in on the raiders who forced their way through a rear door Three armed gardai ran through the front of the bank while other officers sealed off the rear entrance and captured the raiders in what one woman described as a pincer movement". One woman customer fainted.
One raider sustained a head injury when he fell against a wall, said gardai. He is being treated in Waterford Regional Hospital.
Gardai were also watching a car, stolen earlier in Kilkenny. and about an hour alter the operation at the bank they arrested a Dublin woman in the car not far from the bank.
The three men and the woman were all detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. None is thought to have any paramilitary connections.
The Fianna Fail spokesperson on Justice, Mr John O'Donoghue, said the fact that one of the raiders was on temporary release highlighted the need for more prison accommodation.
Hardened criminals have to be told that if they commit a serious crime they will have to stay in prison until they have served their debt to society."
Progressive Democrats TD, Mr Des O'Malley. criticised the Minister for Justice for allowing too many early releases.
"This indicates just how potentially dangerous it is to allow out these people, especially if they have been convicted of violent crime already. A rethink on the general policy of early and temporary releases is necessary", he said.
Democratic Left TD Erie Byrne also called on the Government to provide more prison places by making greater use of non custodial sentences for non violent offenders. He called on the Government to follow up its promise to consider setting up a parole board to ensure prisoners on temporary early release behave themselves.
The general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, Mr George Maybury. described the temporary release as an absolute scandal".
"The gardai now find themselves having to process the same people for the most serious of crimes again and again. The Minister for Justice must address, as a matter of urgency," he said.