The gang would break into the store by smashing a glass panel in the storefront and then crawl inside and smash open the back of the cash machines with power saws, blow torches and sledge hammers. There had been eleven incidents over the past two years and the haul of cash was estimated to be over £600,000 and caused at least £250,000 worth of damage.
On one occasion a police car had arrived on the scene just as the gang were leaving and had given chase. The thieves seemed to know the back roads to take and after a six mile chase on a steep bend the police car travelling at nearly seventy miles per hour had to abandon the chase after a petrol bomb landed on the bonnet. It was only the skill of the police driver that prevented the car from leaving the road and the two officers from being badly injured.
Kevin had moved his family to Trentbridge after the Garda back in Ireland had made their lives difficult to try and get them to move, following constant trouble. The roots of the O’Connor family went back a long way from the area of Connaught. Possibly back as far as the Tara dynasty who were said to have ruled the area from the fifth to the twelfth century. Legend had it that Turloch O’Connor and his son Rory were recognised as kings of Ireland only to be overcome by the Anglo-Normans in the twelfth century.
It was also a place with a long and varied history with its hatred of the British, still remembered from what had become known as the Great Potato Famine of 1845 - 1849 in which over one million people were said to have starved to death or died of disease – as a result of the British landlords becoming more and more greedy. When the crops failed as a result of potato blight, it robbed entire families of their meagre way of life and resulted in famine and widespread starvation.
As a result, during that period, Connaught saw its population decline by nearly thirty percent as people either died or emigrated.
At that time, Ireland was controlled by the government of England who refused to help, instead exporting the foods from Ireland to England and thus leaving the population to die. The Irish, being a proud people only wanted what was fair and did not seek or ask for charity. If the British parliament and people had been unpopular before, this set things on a new level and the contempt of everything to do with England had since been taught down the generations.
This might have had something to do with the way Kevin O’Connor had been brought up by his family; to not ‘give a shit’ about people or their property and to take advantage of them at every opportunity.
As for the law, Kevin O’Connor considered it a game of cat and mouse. The Liberals in society had helped ensure the police could only operate with one hand tied behind their back.
DI Eden Gold looked at the email that had come through to his desk. It was an internal message from the force’s technical division and gave him the name and address of the person who had dialled 999 from the Five Bells pub regarding the attack on schoolteacher, Barry Turner.
Eden and Detective Sergeant Carla Parsons stood at the door of 15 Histon Road after ringing the bell. A few seconds later, a man appeared.
“Hello. Eric Davies?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I’m DI Eden Gold and this is DS Carla Parsons from Trentbridge police. We’d like to ask you a few questions about an incident that took place at the Five Bells pub on Wednesday of last week.”
“Oh, you found me. Yes, you’d better come in.”
As the two detectives walked past him into the hall, the man stuck his head out of the front door and looked around. “Sorry, my wife and kids have just left. I wanted to see they had gone. Let’s go through to the kitchen, shall we.”
Eric led them through and offered them chairs at the kitchen table. “Can I get you a tea or coffee?”
“Now, Mr Davies, before we proceed I’ll need to give you a formal caution and my colleague here, Carla, will be making notes. You’re not under arrest but we have to do things by the book. I hope you understand?”
Eric nodded that he did.
Eden read out the caution and then proceeded with the questioning. “We have reason to believe you witnessed an incident that took place at the Five Bells pub on Wednesday of last week.”
“I did. I wondered if using my mobile to call for an ambulance would mean you’d find me.”
“I understand your reluctance to come forward. You may not have realised how serious the matter was at the time. However, the gentleman who sustained the injuries is still in a coma in hospital. So obviously anything you can tell us could help to find those responsible.”
At that moment, the kettle boiled and Eric got up and made two cups of coffee. He handed one to Eden Gold and sat down at the kitchen table with the other cup. “I didn’t know his injuries were so serious. Yes of course I’ll help. But I could see the men who did it are not the type of people you want to get involved with. They looked nasty. You could see they enjoyed beating him up.”
Over the course of the next hour, Eric Davies gave full details. He remembered part of the registration number of the 4x4 and gave the detectives a clear description of the three men he had seen.
As Eden and Carla left the house they
