A FEMALE bar manager was taken hostage during an aggravated burglary in which armed thieves got away with up to €50,000 in the early hours of yesterday morning.
The victim of the raid, which took place in Carlow town, named locally as Aileen Julian, was not injured but was reported to be “severely shaken”.
Gardaí were last night appealing for any information relating to the incident, which occurred between about 3.45am and 6am.
Investigators carried out forensic examinations of two crime scenes – the victim’s home at a Carlow housing estate and her workplace at the Med Bar on Tullow Street in the town centre.
The woman’s ordeal began when she got home from work at about 3.45am after locking up at the bar.
It is believed a gang of three or four men were waiting for her outside her home at Riverview in the Chapelstown Gate area – about 3km from the town centre.
They brought her into the house and forced her to hand over the keys to the Med Bar and also divulge information about the pub’s safe and alarms, before leaving her in the house with at least one of the gang members.
According to gardaí, the victim reported that her assailants were armed with shotguns and crowbars.
The other members of the gang then made their way to the bar where they were able to empty the contents of the safe.
Gardaí would not comment on the amount stolen, but it is understood to be in the region of €50,000.
It is not known how they made their escape or for exactly how long they held the victim, but the matter was reported to gardaí at about 6am yesterday.
“The investigation is at a very early stage,” said a spokesperson.
Anyone who saw anything suspicious in the Chapelstown Gate estate between 3.45am and 6am, or at the Med Bar on Tullow Street, has been asked to contact Carlow Garda station or the confidential line.
An incident room has been set up in Carlow and a team of investigators are working on the case. They took a statement from the bar manager yesterday afternoon after they satisfied themselves that she had not been physically injured.
Locals were shocked when word spread of the crime yesterday. A woman in an office close to the Med Bar said she knew Ms Julian from going into the premises. “She seems nice. That’s terrible, to have that happening.”
The business was closed throughout the day and monitored by gardaí as an examination was carried out inside, while officers also maintained a presence at the house at Chapelstown Gate where a technical examination was expected to continue into last night.