A PENSIONER in his 80s was told to get down on his knees or his head would be blown off, during an armed raid on a post office yesterday.
Raiders escaped with a substantial amount of cash after they robbed the post office in High Street, Kilkenny city.
Three armed and masked raiders stormed the post office shortly after it opened as a number of customers queued.
“I was just buttoning my coat when I saw two lads rushing in with their hoods up,” said pensioner Timmy Nagle (82).
“One of them shoved me back and put a black revolver to my head and said, ‘get down on your knees or I’ll blow your head off’, ” said Mr Nagle.
“Two of them then jumped over the counter. They were inside for two seconds and came back out, each carrying a bag of cash. One of them slipped on the floor as he was leaving.
“They were a rough bunch and the ones that I saw all had hoodies on.
“It all happened in a flash of a second, I was slow enough to get down and found it tough to get back up.”
A gun and a quantity of money were discovered shortly afterwards beside an abandoned 4x4 which had been used in the robbery. It is understood the vehicle pulled up outside the post office at about 9.30am.
A traffic warden was injured when he approached the vehicle as the raiders escaped from the post office. They made their getaway up High Street and clipped a number of cars as they escaped.
The 4x4 was abandoned on Nuncio Road, close to the castle in the city, and the raiders escaped in a white Transit van and a black saloon car.