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AN 83-YEAR-OLD man who helped stop a robbery at a bookmakers shop in Cork has been hailed as a hero.
Denis O’Connor helped tackle three armed raiders at Bar One Racing in Glanmire, Co Cork on Saturday evening.
The men entered the bookies at around 6.30pm. They were wearing balaclavas and carrying hammers as well as what appeared to be a gun.
CCTV footage of the incident shows O’Connor and shop manager Tim Murphy fighting off the robbers.
Speaking to Cork’s Red FM today, Murphy said the incident is “a total blur” but that the footgage is “shocking”.
“The noise was absolutely incredible. They were just roaring and they bashed hammers a few times.
“I’ve worked in the bookies now for a long time, I’ve been expecting it to happen at some stage, but when it actually happens it’s a total shock…
They weren’t interested in the fivers and tenners in the till, they were shouting, ‘We want the safe, we want the safe.’
“One fella jumped on the counter and the second fella tried to jump on it and he couldn’t make it but he came round the counter door, it was quite intimidating.”
‘Total hero’
Murphy said he was being threatened by two of the men when O’Connor stepped in.
“Denis tackled one of them and I said, ‘I just have to tackle this fella now as well.’
I remember Denis shouting, ‘You’re cowards, you’re total cowards.’ Denis is just a total hero, when I saw him taking one of them on, he just totally inspired me.
“Once they were taken on they totally backed down,” Murphy said.
The would-be robbers left emptied handed and drove off in a black car that was parked outside. O’Connor kicked one of the men as they fled.
Witness appeal
Gardaí in Mayfield have appealed for information about the incident.
They are particularly keen to receive any information or witness accounts of the three male suspects in the Riverstown, Glanmire area between 6pm and 7pm on Saturday.
Gardaí are also seeking any mobile phone or dashcam footage from the Riverstown, Glanmire or Sallybrook areas during the same time period.
As well as that they are looking for any witnesses to suspicious activity by a black saloon car – an Audi A4 or a VW Passat – in the same area at that time.
Anyone with information is urged to call Mayfield Garda Station on 021 455 8510 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.
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Some serious questions to be answered here.
He looks as if he has the mother of all hangovers.
Think he has cystic fibrosis. I remember around his trial the were saying he had severe health issues
@Brown Cows the Journal appears as pro-Nationalist because the media in this country are so blatantly biased against the Nationalist agenda/community in general.
That’s British justice for you!!!
This quote from his solicitor in court today seems to have been left out
from this article.
“Mr Shivers has been through a terrible ordeal whereby he has been repeatedly assaulted /abused whilst in prison and in hospital where he is continuously under armed guard.”
Fair play Sean
How are those allegations newsworthy on their own merit?
Cliff.
This article is not a complete guide to the trial. It is only one page long.
I have no doubt that if this happened in an English court that people there would be forced to resign. The North is still a bit of a Justice jungle.
A real miscarriage of justice was adverted here.
So your last (now deleted) comment was based on nothing.
Let me get this right, the defence didn’t argue that their client is actually innocent and didn’t burn out the car used by the killers but that the judge said something he shouldn’t have and the prosecution should not have prosecuted it as a ‘joint enterprise’ case but instead a ‘secondary party’ case? Does anybody every get off because they are actually innocent or is it all technicalities? No where in the artical did I read that the defence said their client didn’t do it
It is an article, not a legal brief.
Throughout the case they argued that he was innocent, and that their was no credible evidence to suggest otherwise, there still isn’t. There would have been a stronger case linking him to the shooting of JFK.
Typical Nationalist responses so far but no surprise which normally follows on from such articles. Have the Journal given up today with their ‘Fleg’ articles? Haven’t seen any so far!
I’m presuming you missed this article today: http://www.thejournal.ie/belfast-violence-arrests-flag-754696-Jan2013/
How Now Brown Cow in Cold Home Troll Hole.?
My comment was deleted yet again and this one had three likes, so it wasn’t an error which proved my point which you read before deleting it. Shaping the news my backside, setting your own agenda Journal
What’s ‘typical nationalist responses’?
shut up, browns cows
Id disagree with ‘typical nationalist responses’ my comments have been pulled,i cant comment on certain articles and the SF/CNN thread is full of anti SF westbrit comments.
Should the title not say “Shivers wins right to appeal”, only saying. It’s a bit misleading at a quick glance .
as far as im aware from reading the article on bbc his conviction has been quashed and hes in custody pending a decision on whether the DPP seeks a retrial. So hes on remand at the minute
Cheers
no prob!
Why would he get compensation? It was a procedural error on the part of the judge, not a conspiracy to imprison an innocent man.
There was many questions over the evidence gathered and its reliability throughout the case as well. If there was even the slightest piece of credible evidence that Shivers had anything to do with this, then the need for technical mishaps would never arisen. There wasn’t any evidence of any kind. That is the point here.
The Prosecution had to know that this case was not going to stand. Countless legal precedents and standards of evidence had to be ignored to stop the case from collapsing the first time.
It is no different than them building a case against you Cliff for these attacks.
Of course the defence would attack the evidence, that’s their job. The jury decided the evidence was credible.
The problem was purely procedural. Read the article again.
Brown Cow isnt that bad!
have your say