Appeal by police after woman dies

Police in Belfast are seeking information in the case of a robbery in which an 82-year-old woman died.

Police in Belfast are seeking information in the case of a robbery in which an 82-year-old woman died.

Four youths forced their way into Ms Mary Thomson's house in south Belfast's Belvoir estate at about 7.40 p.m. on Thursday. They ransacked the house and left a short time later. The woman contacted her family afterwards but when they arrived, she collapsed and died.

Detectives investigating the incident searched five houses in the Castlereagh area - four on the Belvoir estate and a fifth in Carryduff, Co Down. Four teenage boys volunteered for questioning but all were subsequently released.

Belfast's Sinn Féin Lord Mayor, Mr Alex Maskey, said, "Once again we are seeing the elderly being targeted by thugs."