Raiders wield sword against pensioners

Two elderly sisters and their older brother were tied up and prodded with blades during a horrific and prolonged burglary at their home in Limerick.

The attacks on Willie Creed, 74, and his unmarried sisters, Chrissie, 72 and Nora, 66, began on Thursday night and continued into the early hours of yesterday morning.

Two men wearing ski masks burst into the Creeds’ farmhouse home at Ballyluddy, Pallasgreen at 10.30pm on Thursday. They continually beat Mr Creed and his sisters, tied them up, and bundled them into a bedroom where they subjected them to further assaults, prodding them with a sword and a knife. Before leaving, the attackers ransacked the house.

The Creeds were treated at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital before being discharged last night.

Their brother, Tommy, who lives nearby, said: “One of the mobile phones was left working and I got a call. I rushed up to the house and was absolutely shocked at what I saw. There was blood and mayhem all over the place and a scary kind of scene. Willie was covered in blood and he must have put up a fair fight and got a bad dusting. My sister, Chrissie, had a big bump on her forehead and got a black eye. This is terrible.”

Detective Inspector Tom O’Connor said: “This was a brutal and cowardly attack on three defenceless elderly people. They received severe injuries to the head and limbs, after they were tied up with plastic ties and bundled into a room. They have been very traumatised. The house was torn apart and ransacked.”

He appealed to anybody who may have been in the Pallasgreen and Ballyluddy area on Thursday night or Friday morning to ring Bruff Garda Station on 061 382940.

Cllr Mary Harty, chairwoman of Limerick County Council, said she knew the family well and was shocked by the violent act.

“How anybody could do this to three fine elderly people is frightening. How will they go back to their home after this?”

The attack is the third violent robbery in the area in weeks. In a raid on a home on Apr 16, a couple and their children were tied up as their home was ransacked.

Cllr Harty said: “This is a new phenomenon and the savagery displayed in all three is just intolerable, incomprehensible and shocking to the whole community.”