 People living in country areas say they feel increasingly vunerable |
Three elderly pensioners have been attacked in their homes during separate robberies in counties Antrim, Down and Londonderry. In the first incident, three masked men, armed with a hand gun, attacked an 85-year-old woman and her family at their isolated home outside Randalstown at about 2130 GMT on Tuesday.
The gang beat the woman's son-in-law on the head with a handgun before trying to pull rings from the pensioner's fingers.
They stole a substantial amount of jewellery and money before escaping in the family's 4x4 which was abandoned nearby.
The woman, who suffers from a heart condition, was taken to hospital for treatment.
Inspector Barbara Gray said the woman had shown great bravery.
 Inspector Barbara Gray praised the woman's resilience |
"Her family have been with her. She is described as being comfortable," she said.
"It would be fair to say she is a very plucky and resilient lady who showed quite a bit of spirit last night."
People living in country areas have said they feel increasingly vunerable to attack from roving gangs of thieves.
In the second attack, an 85-year-old woman was left traumatised following an attack at her home on the Crawfordsburn Road in Bangor.
A gang of three masked men pulled the pensioner from her back garden into the house.
They threatened to kill her pet dog if she did not give them money.
After ransacking the house they left, taking a substantial sum of money.
Police believe a gun may have been used in the attack.
'Relieved'
The Reverend Charles McMullen said she was bearing up extremely well.
"She was more concerned about her dog than anything else," he said.
"They did threaten the animal and the dog is very special to her so she is very relieved that nothing happened the animal."
Police in Bangor say they have assigned two officers to deal specifically with robberies involving elderly people.
However, they stressed that such attacks were not on the increase.
Meanwhile, a large sum of money has been stolen from an 85-year-old man during a robbery at his County Londonderry home.
The incident happened in Dungiven at about 1715 GMT on Tuesday.
A man forced his way into the pensioner's house after asking for a drink of water.
When the robber left the elderly man discovered the money was missing from a drawer in the kitchen.
Detectives have appealed for any one with information about the attacks to contact them.
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