Robbers target pensioner's home

There have been several robberies in the Newry area

An elderly woman has been left badly shaken after being robbed at her home in County Down.

Three men forced their way into the pensioner's home at Patrick Street, Newry, at about 1900 GMT on Tuesday. They ransacked rooms and took money.

It is the third time the elderly have been targeted in the Newry area over a 24 hour period.

The police, who recently set up a task force to tackle such crime, have not yet said if all the attacks are linked.

In Tuesday's robbery, the pensioner managed to raise the alarm by pressing a panic button. The robbers had ripped out telephone wires.

John Carr who has lived in the area for more than 40 years said such incidents were making elderly people feel nervous.

"It's a very good area, very good, never had trouble until recently with what they are doing on the senior citizens," he said.

Bogus policeman

On Monday night, a 71-year-old man was forced to the ground by a gang of men who broke into his Warrenpoint home.

Rooms were ransacked and cash stolen.

Half an hour later, three men armed with a brick and an axe broke into a house at Sandy Road in the city, threatened a man in his 80s and stole cash.

The police said those two robberies may be linked.

Sinn Fein councillor Marion Mathers said people are afraid, especially those living on their own.

"It has to stop, it's just unbelievable. These people who are doing this don't show any regard for anyone."

SDLP assembly member Dominic Bradley said the woman robbed on Tuesday night said the attackers had local accents.

"The only way to totally reassure people is to apprehend the people responsible for these crimes and bring them to court," he said.

Meanwhile, a man posing as policeman has tried to target a pensioner in another part of County Down.

The man went into the woman's home at Stream Street in Downpatrick at about 2000 GMT on Tuesday, but the woman phoned a neighbour and the man left empty handed.

Police believe the same man, accompanied by a woman, called to another house in Stream Street asking for water.

A number of items have been recovered for forensic examination.