Father and son injured during robbery

A father and son have been treated in hospital after they were injured during a robbery at their Monaghan Road home outside Armagh last night.

Shortly after 8.30pm, three masked men who were armed with a seven-inch-long boning knife, handgun and sledgehammer entered the house while the father and son were watching television.

The men demanded money and attacked the pair when they put up a struggle. The victims were not seriously hurt in the incident.

The robbers made off with an amount of sterling cash and euros, a chequebook, credit card and two mobile phones.

The robbers were all 25-30 years old and the gunman is described as being 6ft 6in tall of thin build and had camouflage netting over his face. The man with the hammer was 5ft 8in to 5ft 9in tall of medium build and had a square face. The third robber was between 5ft 6in to 5ft 7in tall. Each of the robbers wore dark clothing and gloves.

In Co Down last night a service station attendant was threatened and forced to hand over a sum of cash after three masked men entered the premises at Bangor Road, Holywood, at around 8.45pm.

Two of the robbers went behind the counter and stole cash and cigarettes while the third robber, who was armed with a metal work hammer threatened staff.

The three men who are all around 6ft tall made off on foot from the filling station in the direction of a lane leading to Victoria Road.

The first robber was of thin build with ginger eyebrows and blue eyes. He was wearing a navy shiny top with white stripes on the sleeves.

The second man had dark brown eyes and wore dark clothing. The third man also wore dark clothing and was of thin build.

Elsewhere, a substantial amount of cash has been stolen following a robbery at a post office and supermarket in the Ballymena area of Co Antrim.

The robbery took place as the owner was locking his premises at Glenravel Road, Martinstown, just after 10pm last night.

Three men, two of whom were armed with a knife and a sledgehammer ran into the store and forced the man to open the safe. The men are believed to have made off in a waiting car towards Cushendall.

(GMcG)