Wave of robberies targets pensioners in the North

AN elderly woman confined to a wheelchair yesterday became the victim of the sixth robbery against senior citizens in the North since Friday.

Two men kicked down the door of the woman’s home in the Glen Colin area of west Belfast at around 4.45am and demanded cash.

They took a handbag containing money, a bank card and bank books and searched the cabinets of the house before leaving.

While she was not physically injured, the woman was shaken by the incident.

Police said one of the men is believed to be 5ft 9in, with broad build, and was wearing a dark fleece. He had a local accent.

The incident followed a spate of robberies across the North, including a kicking down of a door of a house belonging to a 100-year-old woman in south Belfast by robbers on Saturday.

The pensioner was asleep in a downstairs room of the house in the Donegall Road area when her front door was forced open.

One of the robbers stayed with her while the others searched the house.

Other robbers targeted elderly victims in Banbridge, Ballymena, Lisburn and Newtonabbey.

Former Stormont minister Carmel Hanna has called for strict sentencing for criminals caught for robberies and assaults on senior citizens.

The SDLP Assembly member said: “There seems to be such a breakdown in law and order and such a lack of respect, particularly for the older people in our society who should be respected and honoured.”