Two south Armagh men have admitted involvement in a “military operation” to steal ATMs in the Republic.
While Fearghal Nolan (25) and his co-accused, 30-year-old Michael Muckian, were due to go on trial next month at Newry Crown Court, defence lawyers Neil Connor QC and Michael Chambers asked for them to be rearraigned on each of the four charges against them.
Nolan, from the Bonds Road and Muckian, from the Carrive Road, both in Silverbridge, south Armagh, entered guilty pleas to the four offences committed on 4 April 2020 including three charges of handling property stolen in the Republic of Ireland.
The handling charges relate to two ATMs, an Ulster bank machine and an Allied Irish bank machine and a VW Amarok pick up truck while the receiving charge is in relation to a stolen trailer.
With a judge describing the offences as akin to a “military operation,” previous courts have heard that a number of vehicles, including the pickup truck, were stolen from a house in Co. Monaghan in a “creeper burglary.”
In the early hours two stolen vehicles, a van and a Mercedes, were set on fire outside Dundalk Gardaí station and meanwhile, a stolen lorry was used to block the road while the pickup truck towed a low loader trailer to Main Street where the two ATM’s were stolen.
During a previous bail application, a prosecuting lawyer said a number of men were seen communicating on walkie talkies but Gardaí officers arrived at the scene “within seconds” of the men leaving, chasing them using police cars and a helicopter as they crossed the border into Northern Ireland.
Muckian and Nolan fled to Muckian’s home but were arrested after “armed officers forced entry.”
The court heard it is estimated there was around E240,000 in the two cash machines.
Following their admissions in court, Judge Gordon Kerr QC said he would pass sentence on April 5.