Pensioners in shock after burglary

A 70-year-old woman has been assaulted during an aggravated burglary in Lisburn on Sunday morning.

The woman and her husband – also 70 years of age – awoke at 5.30am to find three masked men in the bedroom of their Hillhall Road home.

The men, who were armed with a golf club and an iron bar, demanded money from the pensioners.

The woman's husband, who had recently suffered a stroke, fell out of bed and when she went to his assistance she was beaten across the head with a broken brush handle.

The gang then ransacked the house before making off with a sum of money. The men were all said to have southern Irish accents.

Superintendent Gerry Murray said that the elderly couple were "in severe shock" after the incident.

"Both of them were traumatised and in severe shock. The lady received bruising to her face and the elderly gentleman, who had been previously recovering from a stroke, was taken by detectives to the local hospital," he said.

Elsewhere, a 72-year-old woman was suffering from shock after her handbag was snatched in broad daylight in Newtownabbey. The thief made off with £4 and a mobile phone in the incident.

The robbery occurred at around 1.10pm yesterday afternoon in Valley Park. The man is described as being in his 30s, of athletic build and wearing dark jeans and an off-white jacket.

Police are appealing for a couple who were sitting in a red Fiesta car near Valley Park around the time of the robbery.

Anyone with information on either incident should contact detectives on 028 9065 0222.

(GMcG)