One of the men involved in stealing valuable paintings from the Beit collection threatened to shoot the driver of a car which had been struck by the getaway vehicle near Russborough House, a jury has heard.
Brendan Browne said he pulled in 200 yards from Russborough House to allow the speeding Volkswagen Golf used by the thieves to pass him by when it glanced off the front wing off his vehicle.
He told Dominic McGinn, prosecuting, on the second day of the trial of a woman charged with handling the stolen paintings, that he bent down to reach for a pen and paper when a man, who was wearing a dark green balaclava, opened the driver's door and demanded his phone and car keys.
Mr Browne said that "as far as he could see", the man was carrying a shotgun and threatened him saying he should get out of the car, but he was unable to get out because the man was blocking his way.
There was then a bang and the man ran off, got back into the Volkswagen and sped off out of sight.
Rosemary Quinn (48), St Aongus Park, Tallaght, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to handling a Thomas Gainsborough painting entitled Madame Baccelli and a Bernardo Belotto painting entitled A View of Florence on June 26th, 2001.
The paintings have been valued at €2.6 million.
Sgt Martin Walker of Blessington Garda station told Mr McGinn he was only 1.5 miles from Russborough House, when he received a call for assistance. He then met Mr Browne by the side of the road who told him what had just happened.
Sgt Walker said he drove to nearby Russelltown car park where he found the Volkswagen on fire.
There was extensive damage to the rear of the vehicle but the registration plate was clearly visible and he noted it.
He also saw clusters of nails that had been welded together positioned at the right-hand side of the burning vehicle.
Sgt Walker said he continued on to Russborough House where he saw a Mitsubishi Pajero commercial four-wheel drive parked at the main entrance of the house. Its windows were blackened from fire and although there was no flames in the vehicle, the two front seats were smouldering.
After preserving the scene for forensic examination, Sgt Walker called Naas Garda station and told gardaí there to set up checkpoints in the local area and to alert the Garda helicopter. He then returned to the Russelltown car park, but following an extensive search of the general area, nothing was found.
The jury was shown copies of the Belotto and Gainsborough paintings and Sgt Walker agreed that these were handed to him by the security officer at Russborough House on the day of the theft.
He was also shown pieces of wood which he accepted had been used as the battering ram to break the door down.
He said there were four wide pieces of wood which had been nailed together, while four smaller pieces supported them as "table legs would support a table top".
The trial continues.