Burglary contributed to elderly woman’s death

A Donegal coroner has described the deaths of two elderly sisters — whose lives had been turned upside down after an aggravated burglary almost three years ago — as a terrible tragedy.

Dr Denis McCauley said the deaths of Susan Arthur, who died on October 11, 2013, and Isabel Arthur, who died last year, were a result of an incident that was “callous, cruel, and unlawful”.

Susan Arthur, aged 89, was knocked to the ground and sustained a fractured hip after intruders broke into the sisters’ house at Feddyglass, Raphoe, on July 1, 2013, an inquest into her death was told in Donegal yesterday.