Northern Ireland trade association Retail NI has strongly condemned a robbery at a cash dispensing machine at a petrol filling station in Aughnacloy, in County Tyrone last week: warning that such incidents threaten the viability of ATMs.
Men, armed with suspected firearms and wearing boiler suits and masks, threatened security staff who were at the cash machine, at 06:40hrs last Wednesday (October 8).
The men ordered staff into the cash machine bunker while they removed boxes of money from the security van and cash from the machine, at the Caledon Road Solo/Spar outlet.
The men made off in the direction of Armagh in a dark-coloured Audi Q7 with a significant sum of cash, reported by the BBC to be more than £1 million.
Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts fears that such attacks directly contribute to the decline in ATM availability in local communities, restricting access to cash and particularly affecting those on benefits who rely on cash for daily transactions.
“This disgraceful robbery is utterly unacceptable and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” he says. “We urge anyone with information about this attack to contact the police immediately.”
Police Service of Northern Ireland is asking for anyone with information to call 101 quoting 191 08/10/25, or to contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org
Detective Inspector McCamley says: “If you noticed any suspicious behaviour in and around this filling station in recent days or if you were travelling in the area at this time, we want to hear from you. Similarly if you have dashcam covering this area or live in the general area and may have a doorbell camera, your information could be valuable to our investigation.”
