Men force pensioner to hand over cash

GARDAÍ are searching for two men who threatened a pensioner with violence and forced him to hand over money he was keeping in his home.

The men burst into the 78-year-old man’s home in a Cork suburb at around 10.30am yesterday and forced him to hand over the cash. A senior garda spokesman declined to reveal the amount of money stolen, but pleaded with elderly people not to remove their money from the banks.

It is believed that more and more pensioners are doing this because of the current financial uncertainty.

The men, wearing florescent jackets, forced their way into the man’s home near Douglas GAA pitch.

They spent just a few minutes inside before the pensioner handed them the cash. They then drove off in a blue Audi A3 with English registration plates.

The car was found abandoned by gardaí at Centre Park Road at 11.45am. It was being examined by garda technical experts yesterday.

“The men who did this were both middle-aged. They were both medium height and medium build. They also wore woolly caps,” said the garda spokesman, who appealed for anyone who saw the men to come forward.

“We want to speak to anybody who saw them near the man’s home in Douglas or who may have seen them getting out of the Audi A3 at Centre Park Road,” he said.

Contact Togher Garda Station at 021-4947120.