A robber escaped with a four-figure cash sum after holding up a shop at knife-point in broad daylight right next door to a Dublin garda station.

The shocking incident happened when the knife-man walked into the A Team newsagent on St Agnes Road in Crumlin on Tuesday.

The man, who had his face covered, joined the short queue and patiently waited until he reached the counter before pulling out a blade and threatening the young female assistant.

He then escaped on foot with a large sum of cash.

The robbery happened at 2pm, and after fleeing from the shop the raider calmly walked down a laneway between the store and the garda station next to it.

From there he made his way to a local park where he was seen changing out of the grey tracksuit he was wearing and leaving

in different coloured clothes.

“The raider had his face covered and was also wearing gloves, and in a follow-up search some clothing and a knife were found in a park near the scene of the robbery,” a garda spokesman said.

The shop assistant was said to have been very shaken after the raid.

She went to see a doctor but was not physically injured in the incident.

No arrests have yet been made but gardai are examining CCTV footage from inside the shop and the surrounding area.

The clothing and knife are also being examined for DNA and fingerprint profiling in the garda investigation.

“This was a shocking crime in that the raider had no difficulty holding up a shop assistant at knifepoint right beside a garda station,” a security source told Independent.ie.

“There was some level of planning involved in that the raider was wearing gloves and had clothes stashed nearby to change into.

“They must also have been aware that they were right beside the local garda station and yet still chose that shop to target.

“We’ve all heard of getaway cars being used by raiders that are ditched near the crime scene, but this man seemed to have a getaway tracksuit instead, which is unusual.”

The robbery happened just a week after a shop in Swords was held up twice in the space of seven days.

The Spar shop on the Feltrim Road was targeted on August 13 by a lone robber who was armed with a screwdriver.

He entered the shop and threatened staff members before taking money from two cash registers and fleeing the scene.

No arrests have been made and no one was injured in the raid.

The same shop was also raided six days later, on August 19, when two men entered the store and threatened staff.

One of the raiders was brandishing a handgun and the second man was armed with an iron bar in the incident.

They both fled the scene empty-handed.

Gardai have not made any arrests but are continuing to examine forensic evidence and CCTV footage in relation to the raid.

Online Editors