Elderly sisters tied up by robbers

Neighbours say elderly people need panic buttons

Two elderly sisters were tied up by two masked men who stole their car in the latest of a series of attacks on pensioners.

The men broke into the house at Muldonagh Road in Claudy, County Londonderry and demanded money before making off on Tuesday night.

The car was later found abandoned a short distance away.

The police said the sisters and their elderly brother were badly shaken but otherwise uninjured

They appealed for anybody with information about the incident to contact the police.

A 84-year-old Belfast woman was treated for shock after four masked men ransacked her home on Monday night.

The incident took place in the Agnes Street area of the Shankill Road and 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 another 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.