PSNI team to tackle attacks on elderly25 January 2006 17:32
A new police team has been created by the PSNI to target criminal gangs carrying out attacks on the elderly in Northern Ireland.
The move follows seven robberies in seven days across Antrim, Armagh and Down in which elderly people have been the victims.
Police have appealed for the public to check on elderly neighbours, making contact by phone in advance, and to report all suspicious activity in rural areas.
The most recent attacks left a 92-year-old woman and an 85-year-old man deeply traumatised.
In the first incident, the man was confronted by four masked men at his home in Rostrevor, Co Down. The man's house was ransacked before the gang left with a wallet and a sum of cash.
A short time later, four men entered the home of the woman in nearby Warrenpoint. The gang fled after the woman's son arrived on the scene.
Source: http://www.rte.ie