Attacks on elderly - No deterrent for thugs

THANKFULLY attacks on elderly people in isolated communities are not as common as they were a decade ago.

Yesterday we were reminded of the cowardice and terror involved when the body of an 84-year-old farmer, Christy Hanley, was found at a house in Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath.

Relatives believe he was the victim of a robbery and may have been tied up. It is understood the alarm was raised by an anonymous phone call to Tullamore Garda Station yesterday morning.

In a country where a man gets a two-year sentence for raping a woman, it is difficult to imagine that the courts are a deterrent to those who carry out these attacks but there would be very few objections if the severest of penalties was handed down to those who carry out these dreadful attacks.