Masked gang rob pensioner

Neighbours say elderly people need panic buttons

A 84-year-old Belfast woman has been treated for shock after four masked men ransacked her home.

The incident took place in the Agnes Street area of the Shankill Road on Monday night.

This is the second time Lily Brown has been robbed in the past five months. She has been living in the same house for the past 20 years.

The morning after her ordeal, she also received a phone call telling her that a brother had died.

Lily Brown: Second time she has been robbed in five months

At one point, the robbers put a mask over the face of the pensioner.

"I was yelling and screaming to try and attract somebody," she said.

"Then one of them shouted at me to stop yelling and screaming."

She said she tried to lift the mask off her face as she was having difficulty breathing.

The gang escaped with a sum of money in the direction of Agnes Street.

Neighbours said there was a need for panic buttons to be installed to help elderly people living alone to raise the alarm in the event of similar attacks.

One of them said those who had robbed Lily Brown would not like it if their own parents or grandparents were attacked.

"Thugs like that, do they not have any parents or grandparents? They are thugs and cowards."

There have also been reports of an attack on a second elderly woman during an attack on her home in Ballygowan Park in Banbridge, County Down.

She suffered chestpains and received hospital treatment after being hit on the head and knocked to the ground on Monday night.

Two men and a woman forced their way through the front door and ransacked the pensioner's home.

They stole cash and personal papers. The RUC say the woman was severely distressed but her condition has improved.

The incidents are the latest in a series of attacks on elderly people living alone.