Off duty Garda disarms shotgun P.O. robber

Morlar

Just thought I would say 'respect' to the off duty garda behind this story.

I doubt there are many people brave enough to take on a robber armed with a shotgun while being completely unarmed themselves ;

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/brave-garda-disarms-post-officer-raider-while-offduty-2267957.html

By Brendan Farrelly

Thursday July 22 2010

AN off-duty garda yesterday disarmed a shotgun raider moments after he robbed a post office of nearly €8,000.

The lone raider, masked with a balaclava, ran into Donnybrook post office on the Shelbourne Road in Dublin about 2.30pm and pulled out a shotgun. Within minutes, he was out the door with his cash haul and attempted to jump on a bike.

But he ran out of luck when he was spotted by an off-duty garda -- cycling past. The brave officer jumped off his bike and took on the raider who tried to run away. He disarmed him and recovered the money from the heist. No shots were fired. A patrol car from Irishtown rushed to the scene and two uniformed officers assisted.

A 40-year-old man was arrested and brought to Irishtown garda station where he was still being detained last night .

- Brendan Farrelly

Irish Independent

Hooch

Scotts Medal for one please.....

Well done that man, well done

Beruthiel

Excellent job!
I love when scumbags get caught on the hop like that.

Fajitas!

Fair dues to the chap.

ria5000

well done to him

Turner

Fair play to him.

ciarsd

I've been thinking about this, since I read the news article earlier on and still cannot comprehend what he has done. It's balls of the highest order, fairplay to him. It's all very well saying we'd do the same thing, but somehow I doubt it!

Morlar

ciarsd wrote: »

I've been thinking about this, since I read the news article earlier on and still cannot comprehend what he has done. It's balls of the highest order, fairplay to him. It's all very well saying we'd do the same thing, but somehow I doubt it!

That struck me also, the fact that he was offduty at the time and could easily have kept on cycling by as this was on his day off and no one would ever have been the wiser.

When you see people behaving like this and then contrast that with the attitude of our politicians it is just staggering.

msg11

Fair play to him, at the same time. Unarmed etc, could have been a situation if you think about it, 50/50.

Still balls of steel , fair dues !

Zambia

Nice....:)

copacetic

fair dues.

Delancey

11/10 on all fronts.

LaughOrDie

Restores some of my faith in An Garda Siochana.

Muas Tenek

Quick thinking and brave action -well done sir.

nutts_77

Well done my man !!!

da__flash

well done, scotts medal for that man and a shinny new cape :cool:

Terrontress

I don't mean to get anyone's back up but would such an action be frowned upon at any level of Garda management.

I work as a bank official and know that if a branch official were to attempt to restrain an armed raider that he would be in serious trouble. Once a raid is under way the key objective is to get the raiders away as quickly and cleanlyy as possible.

As this Garda did not have the backup of his colleagues or any personal protection equipment, including a radio, he could be seen to have put himself, the investment made in him by the state and members of the public at risk.

I'm the sort of guy who hates the modern risk averse management styles and genuinely commend this guy. But will the Scott medal and a new cape be likely?

Hooch

Terrontress wrote: »

I don't mean to get anyone's back up but would such an action be frowned upon at any level of Garda management.

I work as a bank official and know that if a branch official were to attempt to restrain an armed raider that he would be in serious trouble. Once a raid is under way the key objective is to get the raiders away as quickly and cleanlyy as possible.

As this Garda did not have the backup of his colleagues or any personal protection equipment, including a radio, he could be seen to have put himself, the investment made in him by the state and members of the public at risk.

I'm the sort of guy who hates the modern risk averse management styles and genuinely commend this guy. But will the Scott medal and a new cape be likely?

Of course it won't. The only ones who will frown on this is the few useless lazy members we have in AGS.

You profession has a different priority, safety of their staff an customers. Bank policy is let them have it.....AGS policy is "let em have it"......as in get em, prosecute em...convict them

This guy did as he is obliged to do, intervened in a serious incident. We as members of AGS don't have the comfort of walking past I'm afraid.....on or off duty.

Hats off to the guy....Dare I say he is a modern hero???

Terrontress

nice guy always wrote: »

Of course it won't. The only ones who will frown on this is the few useless lazy members we have in AGS.

You profession has a different priority, safety of their staff an customers. Bank policy is let them have it.....AGS policy is "let em have it"......as in get em, prosecute em...convict them

This guy did as he is obliged to do, intervened in a serious incident. We as members of AGS don't have the comfort of walking past I'm afraid.....on or off duty.

Hats off to the guy....Dare I say he is a modern hero???

It certainly took a hell of a lot of courage for him to do what he did and, dare I say it, a massive set of cojones.

As well as my experience in the bank, I was thinking about the PSNI's recent happening upon an illegal roadblock in Meigh manned by dissidents. The PSNI's response was to maintain an appropriate distance, observe and collect evidence because they felt they did not have the necessary resources to intervene.

But if this Garda's actions were to have resulted in the firearm being discharged and a member of the public were to have been injured, would he still be classed as a hero.

If a member of the ERU were to go in as part of a deployment and that were to happen; he would still be a hero in my eyes.

But an off-duty Garda acting on his own initiative, I am not so sure. Thank God it all went off OK though.

cushtac

If he had done nothing the hurlers on the ditch would be complaining that he hadn't done his job.

It's very easy to pick holes in someone else's decisions, made in the heal of the hunt, from the safety of your pc.

Shield

cushtac wrote: »

If he had done nothing the hurlers on the ditch would be complaining that he hadn't done his job.

It's very easy to pick holes in someone else's decisions, made in the heal of the hunt, from the safety of your pc.

The same can be said for the PSNI's decision not to go in "guns blazing" to that dissident roadblock last year. There are so many things to weigh up on the spur of the moment, and no matter what you do, it's always going to be the wrong thing in somebody's eyes.

Zambia

I see Terrontress's piont when deciding to tackle an armed Offender so many things can go wrong and god forbid someone gets hurt you will indeed be in the proverbial poo.

However in this case it sounds like the guy was jumping on a bike hands probably well clear of the shotgun. Seeing the opportunity the garda acted quickly with the element of surprise.

It seems in this case the Gardas effort was fantastic on all pionts. Chances are if there was a higher risk to life he would have simply stood off.

Even on duty a standard garda has only an asp and pepper spray, no match for a 12 gauge. So well done that man.

Scrappychimow

Its a pity the other 99% of AGS do zero.

Shield

Infracted.

No comments on this post please.

Thanks.

Scrappychimow wrote: »

Its a pity the other 99% of AGS do zero.

Amalgam

The offender won't be doing much with his life until his mid 40's hopefully. Having said that, if you're raiding Post Offices at that age.. :rolleyes:

Terrontress

Terrontress wrote: »

It certainly took a hell of a lot of courage for him to do what he did and, dare I say it, a massive set of cojones.

But if this Garda's actions were to have resulted in the firearm being discharged and a member of the public were to have been injured, would he still be classed as a hero.

If a member of the ERU were to go in as part of a deployment and that were to happen; he would still be a hero in my eyes.

But an off-duty Garda acting on his own initiative, I am not so sure. Thank God it all went off OK though.

Were you there when the arrest took place? If not then you cannot say how something happened or did not happen. It may have been completely safe for the garda to intervene.

heffomike54

That man must have balls like Bengal Tigers! Well Done Sir:D

Let's hope the courts back up his bravery with a serious sentence.

angelfire9

Have to say this guy did great and hopefully it's another scumbag off the streets for a long stretch.

Must also say though if this was my hubby when he got home after all the slaps on the back from colleagues I would KILL him!!

Terrontress

foreign wrote: »

Were you there when the arrest took place? If not then you cannot say how something happened or did not happen. It may have been completely safe for the garda to intervene.

No, I wasn't there.

I was just throwing a question out there.

As a member of the public I sometimes think of cops to be a bit Eddie Murphy / Mel Gibson / Bruce Willis but I know that that is not the way things are in real life but what this guy has done sounds to be somewhere in that bracket.

I'm not saying that what the guy did was wrong. Just asking whether he could come under fire from a risk averse, health and safety conscious management.

Zambia

Terrontress wrote: »

As a member of the public I sometimes think of cops to be a bit Eddie Murphy / Mel Gibson / Bruce Willis but I know that that is not the way things are in real life but what this guy has done sounds to be somewhere in that bracket.

Terrontress wrote: »

I'm not saying that what the guy did was wrong.

Thats how its coming across.

I explained why I thought he took care not to risk life in my earlier post. Quite frankly I think your being unfair to the guy.

Terrontress

Zambia232 wrote: »

Thats how its coming across.

I explained why I thought he took care not to risk life in my earlier post. Quite frankly I think your being unfair to the guy.

Apologies, I must not have read your post or, if I did, it did not register.

Let me reiterate, as a member of the public it is great to see a guy like that disarm a robber and I must state that I am in NO WAY qualified to pass any judgement on to how that off duty Garda performed and any posts by me which may seem like that should be viewed in that light.

480905

heffomike54 wrote: »

That man must have balls like Bengal Tigers! Well Done Sir:D

Let's hope the courts back up his bravery with a serious sentence.

No they won't. He'll probably get some bleeding heart defence Solicitor who will claim he was an abused child who was on drink/drugs or a combination of both to blot out the sh1t life that WE as society condemned him to because he didn't get offered the chances others got. And it will be US (as in society--- Me and you) that will ultimately be to blame because WE drove him to it... INSTEAD of the thieving bastard owning up to what he is..a Scumbag .. who wouldn't go out and work for his money like decent people do.

And before all ye Bleeding heart liberals come on and try to give out to me...save it. Not interested.

And something else just as annoying...the courts might not even recognise the actions of the Officer who did his official and civic duty in disarming this sh1thead. That man should be given highest honours. Although I'd bet he'd prefer a nice bonus.

Shield

480905 wrote: »

No they won't. He'll probably get some bleeding heart defence Solicitor who will claim he was an abused child who was on drink/drugs or a combination of both to blot out the sh1t life that WE as society condemned him to because he didn't get offered the chances others got. And it will be US (as in society--- Me and you) that will ultimately be to blame because WE drove him to it... INSTEAD of the thieving bastard owning up to what he is..a Scumbag .. who wouldn't go out and work for his money like decent people do.

And before all ye Bleeding heart liberals come on and try to give out to me...save it. Not interested.

Bad day at the office?

480905

A bit hectic alright the past few days .Not a bad day but it's a true reflection of the state of the Judicial System at the moment. This scrote will most probably get a lenient "don't do it again, you bold boy" slap on the wrist and be free to terrorise good people very soon, that's assuming of course he doesn't get bail, cos if he gets bail he'll be out within a short period of time before any trial or court case is brought. Sickening.

Shield

480905 wrote: »

This scrote will most probably get a lenient "don't do it again, you bold boy" slap on the wrist and be free to terrorise good people very soon, that's assuming of course he doesn't get bail, cos if he gets bail he'll be out within a short period of time before any trial or court case is brought. Sickening.

Welcome to our world.

Zambia

Now its been brought up. The article does not mention the offenders name.

Once he is charged I assume that is in the public domain. If convicted his sentence should also be in the public domain.

It would be interesting to actually high light this case (possibly on another dedicated thread) and see what this guys gets for Armed Robbery. Granted it may be a good few months/years. Before he is sentenced.

I will follow it if someone tells me where to look online. We could even call him a fake name for the thread.

Jonah42

Top job.

sesna

I wonder if Sinn Fein TD Martin Ferris' daughter would classify this incident as an interruption to a "fundraising event" also.

http://elblogador.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html

"Garda McCabe’s wife Ann spoke very movingly about missing her husband and how his killing destroyed her family’s lives, and her fear that the killers may get released early. It also featured Martin Ferris’ daughter Toireasa Ferris refusing to condemn the killing and claiming that the slaughter was somehow ‘a mistake’ despite the fact that the killers riddled the car with a sustained shower of bullets. She claimed it was a ‘fundraising’ attempt."

da__flash

sesna wrote: »

Sinn Fein TD Martin Ferris' daughter Toireasa Ferris

please dont get me started on that crowd :mad:

johnnyskeleton

480905 wrote: »

No they won't. He'll probably get some bleeding heart defence Solicitor who will claim he was an abused child who was on drink/drugs or a combination of both to blot out the sh1t life that WE as society condemned him to because he didn't get offered the chances others got. And it will be US (as in society--- Me and you) that will ultimately be to blame because WE drove him to it... INSTEAD of the thieving bastard owning up to what he is..a Scumbag .. who wouldn't go out and work for his money like decent people do.

Just one thing - why do defence solicitors always get the blame for lenient sentences?

There's nothing in the constitution that says we can't have prosecutors issued with jackboots and a flaming sword of vengeance as a matter of course.

ILA

sesna wrote: »

I wonder if Sinn Fein TD Martin Ferris' daughter would classify this incident as an interruption to a "fundraising event" also.

http://elblogador.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html

"Garda McCabe’s wife Ann spoke very movingly about missing her husband and how his killing destroyed her family’s lives, and her fear that the killers may get released early. It also featured Martin Ferris’ daughter Toireasa Ferris refusing to condemn the killing and claiming that the slaughter was somehow ‘a mistake’ despite the fact that the killers riddled the car with a sustained shower of bullets. She claimed it was a ‘fundraising’ attempt."

In all fairness, what the hell has this case got to do with Sinn Fein, Martin Ferris, or Toireasa Ferris?

They're two completely different cases, both deserve condemnation, but the Adare case isn't relevant to this thread and only a crackpot would try and link it.

sesna

ILA wrote: »

In all fairness, what the hell has this case got to do with Sinn Fein, Martin Ferris, or Toireasa Ferris?

They're two completely different cases, both deserve condemnation, but the Adare case isn't relevant to this thread and only a crackpot would try and link it.

This is about a garda who intervened in a situation when someone attempted to steal money from a bank.

Martin Ferris overtly supported IRA criminals who tried to rob money from an armoured cash-in-transit van, who also in the process riddled Detective Garda Jerry McCabe with bullets from an AK-47 which killed him. Toireasa Ferris said Gerry McCabe's murder was the result of an interruption to a "fundraising" exercise, and an "accident".

Many similarties between the two cases which bring into perspective the dangers Gardai face on a day to day basis, especially when intervening in such situations and also dealing with subversives who are becoming more commonplace over the past two years.

Crackpot? I suppose someone suffering from the usual Sinn Fein sins of denial, amnesia and arrogance would say that.

Shield

Mod warning:
2 infractions issued for personal abuse. EDIT @ 0522: Personal abuse removed from sesna's post but infractions still stands.

Do not call each other names on this forum. Make whatever point you want to make, adduce whatever you want in your favour, but leave the personal insults and remarks out of it.

This is line with the site rules and the forum charter.

Back on topic please.

480905

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Just one thing - why do defence solicitors always get the blame for lenient sentences?

Read my post again. I never said the solicitor hands out sentences.I said they claim their clients were otherwise influenced in order to explain their thieving actions.They always blame somebody else instead of taking responsibility for their own actions.