Police Slammed Over ATM Ram-Raid

A digger was used to steal a complete ATM at a border supermarket at the weekend, police have said.

It happened in the early hours of Saturday and the thieves escaped with the safe containing a large quantity of cash following the raid at the Clones Road, Newtownbutler.

Although they have appealed for information on the white vehicle believed to have been used for the getaway, a huge 12 hour delay in police attending has been slammed.

The owner of the badly damaged supermarket, Declan McCabe said police were called at 4.30am to say thieves were removing the ATM from the shop, however, he said they did not arrive until 12 hours later.

In response, the PSNI said they investigated straight away, but had to be cautious due to the terrorist threat in the area.

"Additional resources were allocated to the investigation including the police helicopter and additional officers," a PSNI statement said.

"The people of Fermanagh are well aware that policing in the county is being delivered against the backdrop of a significant threat from dissident republican criminals, who have shown their determination to kill officers.

"Policing is being delivered but officers' safety is a priority and that may mean that, at times, we need to be cautious in our approach to some crime scenes."

However, Mr McCabe told the BBC today that the length of time it took for officers to attend the scene was "absolutely diabolical".

"We pay our rates towards the police service to protect the community - they should be protecting the community first and then themselves afterwards," he said.

The alarm was raised over both the robbery and the fire that followed when, after removing the ATM from the shop, the robbers set the digger on fire and escaped in the direction of the nearby border.

The fire service were in attendance in a short time, as there were fears the nearby petrol pumps could have become involved, but police failed to tun up until late on Saturday afternoon.

(BMcC/JM)