Gardaí are searching for three masked attackers who forced their way into the home of a married couple in their 80s in Co Galway and made off with money after injuring the husband and ransacking the house.
The couple, who live in the countryside at Cregg Mulgreaney, outside Craughwell, heard a knock on their front door at about 9.45pm on Tuesday night. When the husband opened it, he was confronted by the three men, all wearing masks or balaclavas. He was struck over the head with a blunt weapon and dragged inside the house to his wife.
The intruders demanded money and brought the man upstairs where he was locked in a bedroom.
The house was ransacked and the couple warned to stay quiet.After finding a sum of money, the raiders made their getaway in a car parked outside.
The injured man managed to contact a daughter who lives nearby and gardaí and an ambulance were called. He was taken to University College Hospital in Galway for attention to a substantial head wound.
“It was a callous, cowardly attack on an innocent elderly couple who have been left severely traumatised,” Det Sgt Tom Waters said.
Det Sgt Waters said the raiders had paid no heed to the fact there other homes in the immediate vicinity.
“It’s a rural area, but it is not that isolated and there are other houses nearby. Everybody is shocked by what has happened,” he said.
The house was sealed off for forensic examination and gardaí are preparing to take a detailed statement from the couple.
The first raider is described as 6 feet tall and of thin build, wearing dark clothing; the second is in his 20s with a cream jacket and the third is of medium build and wore dark clothing.
Det Sgt Waters appealed to anybody who may have noticed anything suspicious in the area either before Tuesday night or around the time of the attack at the house to contact gardaí at Loughrea 091-842870.