Elderly warned after spate of NI robberies

Elderly people in Northern Ireland were today urged to be on their guard after a couple were terrorised at gunpoint in their …

Elderly people in Northern Ireland were today urged to be on their guard after a couple were terrorised at gunpoint in their Enniskillen home.

Two masked men entered the couple's home on Irvinestown Road at 9.45 p.m. last night after the woman of the house opened the back door.

She was pushed to the ground and her husband was also confronted by the robbers.

The couple were locked in the kitchen dining area after the masked men threatened to set the house alight and shoot their pet dog.

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The robbers eventually made off with a wallet containing bank cards and money.

One of the men was heavily built, about six feet tall, and was wearing a balaclava, gloves and a short black zip-up jacket.

His accomplice was shorter, of stocky build and wore a balaclava, a scarf, gloves with holes in the palms and a grey knitted sweater.

Elderly people in other parts of the North were also the victim of robbers yesterday.

An elderly woman in Lurgan, Co Armagh became the victim of a theft for the second time in a week after being duped by a man posing as a police officer.

She was approached by the man in Caroline Avenue after she was contacted by someone pretending to be carrying out a follow up investigation into a previous robbery from the boot of her car in Williams Street.

The man produced a false identification card and grabbed a handbag from her car, making off with a sum of money, a cheque book and house keys.

His victim had just made a substantial cash withdrawal from the bank.

The robber was described as being in his thirties, about five foot six, stocky, with a round face and was wearing a woollen hat and a beige canvas type coat.

The police warned members of the public to always check the credentials of those claiming to be detectives and to contact them if necessary.

An 80-year-old man was robbed at his home in Limivady in Co Derry at around lunchtime yesterday by a robber posing as a salesman.

The robber called at his victim's house on Beech Road in Drumfurn at about 12.15 and offered to sell the man clothes from a large black suitcase.

When the pensioner produced his money, the robber grabbed it and ran off.

Police believe the man had called at a number of homes in the area last Saturday.

He is believed to be in his thirties with short spiked hair. Police Service of Northern Ireland have asked members of the public in Limivady to help their investigation.

PA