Women locked in room during 'horrific' Offaly supermarket armed robbery

Four years in jail for man who Tullamore Circuit Court heard drove thieves in Audi Quattro to Centra in Ferbane for violent crime where knife, garden shears and meat cleaver were used

Published 9th Jun 2026, 07:00 BST Limerick man Barney Casey appeared before Tullamore Circuit Court | Tribune Pictures and Thames Valley Police Four years in jail for man who Tullamore Circuit Court heard drove thieves in Audi Quattro to Centra in Ferbane for violent crime where knife, garden shears and meat cleaver were used Sign up to our Offaly Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Offaly Live within your account.

WHAT a judge said was an “extremely violent” crime was recalled at Tullamore Circuit Court when a 25-year-old man from Limerick was sentenced for his part in the robbery of a supermarket in Ferbane .

Barney Casey, Toppins Field, Carew Park, Limerick, who had previously pleaded guilty to robbing O'Callaghan's Centra, Main Street, Ferbane, on November 15, 2021was sentenced by Judge Keenan Johnson to five years in prison, with one year suspended.

Detective Garda Kieran Keane outlined to the court how Mr Casey had sourced a black Audi S4 Quattro estate car in the London area on November 10, five days before the Offaly robbery, “to commit certain offences”.

The vehicle had been advertised for sale on Gumtree and it was tracked to Holyhead port from where it was brought by ferry to Dublin with two passengers, both of whom had false names.

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False plates were fitted on the car in Offaly and it was driven to Ferbane in the early hours of November 15.

CCTV footage from the street and inside the store was played in court and it showed two staff of the Centra deli, Audrey White and Denise Hill, arriving for work and opening the shutter.

At 6.44am the Audi pulled up and three men, wearing hooded anoraks, balaclavas and gloves, got out and entered the store.

Shane Geraghty, BL, prosecuting (instructed by Sandra Mahon, Offaly state solicitor), said it was accepted that while Mr Casey was the driver he did not enter the store himself.

CCTV footage from inside the store showed men, variously armed with a screwdriver, knife, garden shears and meat cleaver, running along an aisle in the shop.

The recording depicted a screwdriver being held to the neck of one of the women and a man taking a knife from the deli.

The women were forcibly brought to the strong room of the premises and one of them was forced to go inside it by a man with a garden shears while the other victim was kept outside by a man with a knife.

They were forced in an out of the room and at one point during the footage they could both be seen with their hands up.

A man emptied a bin which was used to transport a large amount of cigarettes and tobacco. A cash box containing €2,348 was also taken.

The two women were then locked in the strong room and one man was recorded damaging an electrical box on a wall because he believed it was linked to the store's CCTV system. However, the court was told it was connected to the tills.

Bin bags were taken from a shelf to carry other stolen goods and the robbers also used a trolley to carry items along the aisle to the front door.

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A camera outside recorded goods being loaded into the Audi while other early morning traffic drove along the street.

Garda Keane agreed with Damien Colgan, SC, defending, that it was not the prosecution's case that Mr Casey had driven the car away after the robbery. His DNA was found on the rear door.

Other staff subsequently arrived at the store and a delivery driver also came on the scene and the two women were found in the strong room in a distraught state.

Detective Garda Keane said gardai pursued the Audi for 33km and its high speed driving was “evasive” and “very dangerous”.

The vehicle was then abandoned in a rural area and its four occupants climbed a gate and fled on foot into a field, discarding some clothes as they ran.

Three were arrested, including Mr Casey, and one evaded capture.

The car had driven from Ferbane to Cloghan , then to Taylors Cross and on towards Eyrecourt .

One of the rear tyres had blown out during the pursuit and it was driven with a flat tyre for some distance before being stopped near a cemetery

Along with the stolen goods and the cash box, €440 cash, other stolen number plates, the original number plates, plus bleach and antiseptic wipes, were found in the car.

The court was told that when he was interviewed by the gardai Mr Casey made a comment: “If you have my clothes and CCTV I can't say fairer than that”.

Examination of Mr Casey's phone showed searches for an Audi and hotels. There was also evidence on the phone of a search for Covid tests because the robbery had been committed during the pandemic.

There was also a text message sent from Mr Casey's phone saying he'd “gone robbing”.

After being charged with the offence Mr Casey was granted bail.

Judge Johnson heard that in September 2023 at Birmingham Crown Court he received a 10-and-a-half-year sentence for conspiracy to commit burglaries in England.

Detective Garda Keane said Mr Casey then escaped from an open prison, HMP Springhill, on June 23, 2025 having served 21 months of his sentence.

On October 21 of the same year Mr Casey was found in a car which gardai stopped at the Irish Ferries terminus in Dublin Port, bound for Cherbourg.

Mr Casey was convicted last month of an offence related to his use of a false passport and received a one-month sentence. He also had a theft conviction from a Limerick court.

The two women who were locked in the strong room were present in court for the sentencing hearing but left when the CCTV was being played.

When they returned their victim impact statements were read out and in hers, Ms White said she had been threatened that she would be brought away and killed and though she had returned to work, to a job she had for 24 years, she could no longer go into the strong room and all the fun and banter was gone from her employment.

She suffered from nightmares, had lost her independence and would double and triple lock doors at home.

She could no longer for for early morning walks and became over protective of her daughter and had to see a psychologist.

It now took her a long time to recover if she received any scare.

Ms Hill's victim impact statement told of how her life had changed since the robbery, how she lost trust in people, was anxious, had to receive counselling and had to leave a job she loved and which she had for 10 years.

“I'm now in another job but the fear is always there that this will happen again,” the statement said.

A victim impact statement from store owner Phil O'Callaghan detailed the impact on all of the staff, how they felt fear and how the “bubbly atmosphere” in the shop was gone.

The store required additional staff, changes in rostering and an investment of €5,000 to upgrade security.

The court also heard Mr Casey was one of 17 children and his mother was present in court. Prior to the Ferbane offence he had one previous conviction for shoplifting and defence counsel Mr Colgan said it was for a “can of Coke”.

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Judge Johnson was told by Mr Geraghty that two other men had been convicted for their involvement in the robbery.

James Keenan, described as the “most aggressive”, was sentenced to six years in prison with one year suspended and Martin Keenan received a five-year sentence with 18 months suspended.

Mr Colgan said Barney Casey had cut himself off from his family at 19, had a history of drug abuse and “got in with the wrong crowd”.

He was now saying he was drug-free and wrote a letter of apology to the court which spoke of his horror at what had happened and he did not realise the extent of it himself until he saw the CCTV footage.

He had been in custody since October 20 last and also had another sentence of more than eight years “hanging over him”.

Mr Geraghty said the guilty plea to robbery had been entered by Mr Casey on the basis that the crime was a joint enterprise.

Sentencing Mr Casey, Judge Johnson said the two victims had been through a terrifying experience and were very badly man handled.

There had been an extensive degree of planning by the culprits and he was party to the robbery's common design and was as culpable as the others.

“The robbery was extremely violent and extremely traumatic for the victims,” said the judge.

“What they experienced was absolutely horrific and one cannot but have enormous sympathy for them.”

The judge also noted that because Mr Casey had “skipped bail”, the victims had to come to court again, having already been present when the other two men were sentenced.

Related topics: Offaly Tullamore Circuit Court Limerick Gardaí Ferbane London Birmingham Judge Keenan Johnson Cloghan Eyrecourt Sign up to our Offaly Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Offaly Live within your account.