Sixteen-year-old due in Mullingar Court in relation to burglaries

A 220kmh speed chase led to a 16-year-old male being charged and released on bail, due to appear before Mullingar District Court on June 27, in relation to burglaries.

He was stopped in a vehicle in Blanchardstown last Tuesday, May 28, which originally contained three others, but only one youth - from Tallaght, Dublin - was arrested.

He is charged in relation to burglaries at three homes in Westmeath; the first at midnight at a house in Inis Glora, Ballinalack, where the gang took a handbag and car keys, the second at 1.30am in Ardmore Hills, Mullingar, where it is believed two males broke into a house by popping the barrel lock on the front door, and made good their escape; and the third at Castle Grove in Castlepollard at around 4.30am, when three males entered the house via the same nature and once again were disturbed. This time however they managed to take with them a laptop, O2 wifi hub and white Kindle, making their way on foot back into the town to a waiting car.

They were eventually pursued in a high speed chase to Blanchardstown where they were stopped via a sting operation. It is thought they are part of a major criminal gang who use stolen Audis and BMWs for burglaries.

It is understood the car the gang were travelling in smashed through toll barriers before a stinger device eventually halted them. The garda helicopter had to be deployed to keep sight of the car and co-ordinate units on the ground. The young driver was arrested and items from two burglaries were recovered.

According to sources, gardaí believe the ringleaders of the gang are members of two notorious Traveller families who have been involved in organised crime for three decades and have been using the motorways to carry out burglaries in towns and villages across the country.