Hero grandmother foils tiger kidnap
Gunmen flee family home after gardai alerted to raid
The Flynn home where the couple and three of their four children were tied up by raiders
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Tuesday February 17 2009
A GRANDMOTHER was hailed as a hero last night after a ruthless gang was stopped in its tracks during a so-called tiger raid.
Businessman Julien Flynn was with his wife Emma and four children -- all aged under seven -- at their home at the rear of the Flynn Group's hardware, supermarket and timber supply business in Lackagh, about 10 miles from Galway city, when the drama began at around 9pm on Sunday.
Emma Flynn was speaking by phone to her mother, Colette Whelan, when she heard a commotion in the rear rooms of her home. She dropped the phone and went to investigate.
She and her husband were confronted by five armed and masked men who had broken into their home. The couple were pushed onto the floor and bound with cable ties.
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The gang -- believed to be from Tallaght in Dublin and suspected of involvement in a number of other robberies around the country -- were armed with a shotgun, a hatchet and other weapons.
Gang members then went upstairs to the children's bedrooms and brought them to join their parents. The three older children were also tied up, while the Flynns' six-month-old baby was left untouched.
Emma's mother, meanwhile, had become concerned as a result of the commotion and her daughter's unexplained dropping of the phone. She phoned Julien's sister, Nicoletta, who lives next door and asked her to check on them.
Nicoletta and her sister-in-law, Mary Flynn, walked to the house. But when they rang the doorbell they were pulled inside by the raiders, forced onto the floor and also tied up.
But by now, Emma's mother, Colette, was becoming increasingly concerned at her home in Galway city. She and her husband Paddy decided to phone the gardai and asked them to go to the house in Lackagh.
An unarmed male and female garda went to the Flynn home and when they approached the front door, they too were bundled inside. But a scuffle ensued, during which the male garda was struck with the hatchet.
By now, with the situation becoming unmanageable for the gang, they decided to flee. They made their way towards the rear window which they had used to gain access to the house initially. But one of them was overpowered by the gardai.
Getaway
The other four made good their escape and headed towards the nearby Woodlands estate, where they had left two BMW cars for their getaway.
Garda reinforcements, however, were on the scene within minutes and one of the raiders was arrested close to the Flynn home. A second man was found with a serious leg injury and offered no resistance when approached by gardai.
The two remaining raiders managed to get away in a dark-coloured BMW X5 which gardai believe had a 2005 registration number. They had taken a small sum of money which they found at the Flynn house.
By now, gardai had managed to reach the distraught family and free them. Nobody had been injured, but all were severely traumatised.
Checkpoints were immediately established on all approach roads to and from the immediate area. The Garda Air Support Unit joined the search early yesterday morning.
Gardai recovered the second BMW car, which had been abandoned at the Woodlands estate in Lackagh.
Forensic experts were yesterday examining it for clues and were also trawling through the various locations at the Flynn home as the family opted to stay with relatives.
"Obviously, it has been quite a traumatic night and I'd really like if you would respect our privacy a bit. We're all fine, thank God, everybody's fine," said Mr Flynn.
"The guards were wonderful, they really were super and thank God we were very well looked after last night. Somebody in heaven thankfully was looking down on us."
Gardai at Mill St station in Galway yesterday said that two of the men detained in Lackagh had been arrested and were being questioned. The third man yesterday underwent surgery at University Hospital Galway and was under 24-hour watch by gardai.
- Brian McDonald
