Hole in the wall raids to feature in true crime TV documentary

A series of audacious and brazen raids on ATM across the North East by a ruthless gang using stolen diggers in 2018 and 2019 features in a new true crime series this week. Alan Cunningham, then Detective Superintendent for the Northern Region who was heavily involved in the investigation, spoke to AISLING KIERNAN about the pressure Gardaí were under at the time and how the daring double raid in Kells was the turning point in the investigation... 

Over a nine month period between December 2018 and August 2019, the country watched incredulously as a criminal gang used stolen diggers to rip cash-filled ATMs from the walls of banks across towns in Cavan, Monaghan and Meath.

The gang carried out successful heists at Ballybay, Co Monaghan; Kingscourt, Co Cavan; Castleblayney, Co Monaghan and then struck twice in Kells on the same night to make off with around half a million euro in just four minutes; before eventually being apprehended in Virginia.

With access to never-before-seen CCTV footage, and interviews with investigating officers, the first episode in this season’s ‘The Case I Can't Forget’ - titled ‘ATM Heist’ - will reveal gripping details about the covert operation set-up to retrieve the stolen cash and smash the canny criminal ring involved.

Now retired Detective Superintendent Alan Cunningham from Cavan had command of local intelligence units during the investigation, and of the sting operation that eventually captured the gang in Virginia in the early hours of August 14, 2019.

Recalling the crimes, five years on, he says what really struck him was the speed at which the brazen thefts were carried out.

“How quickly it happened and then I suppose the amount of money and then to be able to get away without leaving any visible evidence behind, there was no forensics and there was nothing to follow through.”

He told The Anglo-Celt that, while they had the intelligence on what was going on, the difficult task for gardaí was finding hard evidence.

“One of the main players was from Crossmaglen and so there was a cross border element to it,” he recalls, before adding that gardaí “liaised closely” with PSNI in respect of the matter.

“The group we were looking at were focusing their robberies in counties Cavan, Monaghan and Meath. There were others operating in Newry and Armagh and there was another group in Dundalk. There were 12 to 15 people involved in these gangs and three or four would go out on a Saturday night; while another three or four would go out another night. There was one person that was always part of the group that went out,” he reveals.

Eventually the intelligence pointed to one man - former All-Ireland football medal winner, Danny O'Callaghan.

“He was involved with the Duffy Brothers [from Monaghan] and they kept very tight. But we got the intelligence and, as a result, were able to deploy surveillance; then we got indicators they were going to target the ATM in Virginia,” explained Mr Cunningham.

“When the theft happened in Virginia, they had a trailer with them, which we soon established had been stolen in Castleblayney and the owner identified it.”

He also points out how building materials and paint samples found in the trailer were forensically examined, the results proving it had been used in the theft of ATMs elsewhere.

“When the trailer was forensically examined, parts of the ATM from Castleblayney were discovered and this led us to identifying those involved,” he continued.

“It was a very high profile investigation; there was pressure on the gardaí to apprehend the gang; and there was also pressure on the Garda Commissioner. There was also the commercial aspect for the towns impacted because, once the ATM was gone, people travelled to other towns to take out money and then spent it in that town.”

The Celt's managing editor, Linda O'Reilly, is among those interviewed for the documentary series.

As a result of their successful prosecution brothers Stephen, Gerard and Ciaran Duffy received combined sentences of 19 years and six months from Justice Tony Hunt in the Special Criminal Court.

Daniel O'Callaghan, regarded as the ring leader, was jailed meanwhile for 10 years for his part in the raids.

This season’s ‘The Case I Can’t Forget’ true crime series will, for the first time, also feature a gripping two-part special on notorious Dublin criminal, Martin Cahill, and how his crimes helped shape a generation of skilled detectives during their decades-long pursuit of the man known as ‘The General’.

As they recall the successes - and failures - of the investigations and operations to destroy his criminal enterprise, viewers will discover from Cahill’s victims how his brutal crimes changed their lives forever, and left them facing losses that could never be redressed.

The final episode will uncover the sexual slavery and human trafficking taking place in Irish market towns as Garda detectives describe the complex investigation that led to the first-ever convictions for human trafficking in Ireland.

* ‘ATM Heist’ will be broadcast at 9:35pm this evening (Wednesday) on RTE One and will also be available on RTE Player.