Just how vulnerable elderly people have become, even in their own homes, has been highlighted in recent days, and has caused considerable concerns, following brazen robberies from homes in Mullingar and other parts of north Westmeath.
In a serious development, one elderly woman was injured and hospitalised after she tried to prevent intruders from stealing her handbag on Friday last, 22 May, when the gang involved involved came into her home shortly after she and her husband had returned from voting in the referendum. In another incident three days earlier, three men burst into the home of a woman in her late seventies, in north Westmeath, and searched the house, even though a neighbour was there at the time, and tried to confront them. In Mullingar, a residence at Ardmore Road, where a break-in was prevented little more than a month ago, when a resident was in the house, was ransacked last Thursday, 21 May while the owners, an elderly couple, were not present, between 8am and 9.30am. On Friday last also, a handbag was robbed from a house when a burglar entered while the owner was upstairs.
RAHARNEY ROBBERY
Shortly after an elderly couple returned from voting in Raharney on Friday last, 22 May and the husband left, a man entered the house in Grangebeg, Raharney at about 7.15pm, asking the occupant of the house, an elderly lady, if he could buy a car. The woman, who is in her late 60s, asked the man to leave, but he grabbed her handbag before he left.
Outside, according to local sources, the woman challenged the man and attempted to grab back her handbag from the car seat but she suffered a severe injury and bruises when the car was driven while she was confronting the thieves. Those involved made their getaway in the vehicle, a blue car, possibly a Nissan Almera, with a 98 D registration, which had another occupant who drove off in the direction of Ballivor. The woman required hospital treatment and it is believed she suffered a broken hip in the incident.
It is thought locally that the same people may have been involved in another attempted robbery earlier, when two people went to the door of a house in the Raharney area and asked to use the bathroom, but the occupant slammed the door immediately, and the men left.
Local people suggest that the car was seen in a local car park earlier on Friday.
FINEA INCIDENT
Meanwhile another break-in occurred in a house in Finea, north Westmeath, on Tuesday, 19 May. At 11pm, after dark, three men burst into the house of a woman in her late 70s. A neighbour was also in the house at the time, but the burglars pushed the neighbour against the wall as two of the men made their way upstairs while the third stayed downstairs.
The men then left the house without having found anything in their search, it is thought, but the incident has left the victims shocked, and has upset other residents in the area. The Gardai again warn people living in isolated areas, or living alone, never to leave their doors open and not to open doors to any strangers who seek to enter. They also appeal to people to report any strange vehicles seen in local areas, and take registration numbers.
Handbag stolen
A handbag containing a sum of cash was stolen from a house in the Green Road, Mullingar, following a burglary on Friday last, when a man entered the house through a side door, while the occupant was upstairs, and took the handbag, which contained a small sum of cash. It is believed the burglar was approximately 6ft tall and wearing a wooly hat.
