Armed robbers threatened to shoot pensioner

Armed robbers put a pillow over a terrified pensioner’s head and threatened to shoot him during a raid on his home in Northern Ireland, it emerged today.

In one of two separate attacks on the elderly being investigated by police, four masked men duped their way into the victim’s home at Carryduff, Co Down, late last night.

The intruders, wielding a handgun and a large screwdriver, told the man and his wife, both in their 70s, that their car had been broken into.

But once inside, the gang forced the couple to their bedroom, police disclosed.

A spokeswoman said: “The man was forced to his knees, a pillow was put over his head and then threats were made to shoot him.”

The robbers ransacked the house and stole cash from his wallet before fleeing, leaving their victims badly shocked.

The man’s wife also sustained head injuries during the attack.

Earlier, an 82-year-old woman was in the kitchen of her home just outside Portadown, Co Armagh when four men broke in.

She was grabbed around the face and forced into a chair by the gang who demanded money and her pension book.

The raiders unplugged the frightened pensioner’s telephone and took it with them in a bid to stop her calling for help.

But she managed to make her way to a neighbour’s house where the alarm was raised.

The woman was left badly shocked and suffered bruising to her face and mouth.