More pensioners targeted by raiders
Two elderly women in Belfast and Derry were recovering from the ordeals of becoming the latest senior citizens to be targeted by robbers.
One pensioner was held captive in her bed in east Belfast last night as four men ransacked her house.
At around 10.40pm, the victim woke to find the four men in her bedroom at her house in the Willowhome area.
One of the robbers held her down in the bed, placing his hand on her head.
The others ransacked the house and then left a short time later.
Although the woman suffered no physical injuries, she was in a state of shock. She managed to raise the alarm through a neighbour.
Police said it was not clear at this stage if anything was taken and they said the woman was unable to give a useful description of the intruders because of her fragile state.
They have appealed to witnesses to anything suspicious in the area or anyone with information to contact detectives in Strandtown.
In Derry, a woman in her 70s had her handbag snatched on the street last night.
She was walking along Aileach Road at around 9pm when two men approached her and grabbed her bag.
The victim was not hurt during the robbery.
Police at Strand Road Station in the city were investigating.
Meanwhile, a male employee at a fast-food restaurant in Coleraine was today recovering from injuries sustained during a robbery.
The victim was standing outside the restaurant in Riverside Business Park at around 8.50pm when he was approached by a man who held a knife to his back and told him to get inside and lie on the floor of the changing room.
While he was doing that, he was kicked in the ribs by the robbers.
Two other men – one of them armed with a metal bar – approached a woman working in an office at the restaurant and told her to empty the till.
After she threw money on a table, she escaped and managed to raise the alarm.
The robbers fled and all three men were described as being between 5ft 8in and 6ft, with dark coats and blue jeans, and were wearing makeshift masks.
Police in Coleraine appealed for information.
