Gardai believe three bank robberies in Dublin last week were carried out by the same man and are concerned that he will strike again, writes Jim Cusack, Security Correspondent. So far the man has escaped with around £10,000 in cash after threatening bank staff with guns which may or may not be real.
He first robbed the Bank of Ireland in St Stephen's Green last Monday, threatening staff with a handgun and demanding cash which he put in a plastic bag before running out. Thirty minutes later he held up staff at the Ulster Bank on Shelbourne Road, this time using what appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun. Again he put cash in a carrier bag and ran off. On Wednesday he walked into the Ulster Bank in Malahide, jumped across a counter and threatened staff with a handgun and escaped with cash in a plastic bag.