"Sick and twisted" robber attacks pensioner

An elderly woman has been attacked at gunpoint in her home in south Belfast.

The 78-year-old woman was assaulted and threatened with a gun during the attack at her home on the Ravenhill Road.

The man burst into the house around 2.30pm on Wednesday April 10 after tricking his way inside.

He stole a sum of money from the woman’s handbag before forcing her upstairs on a stair lift and ransacking her bedroom. Police have described the assailant as “ a sick and twisted individual”.

They have described the man as being in his mid-20s, about 5ft 8ins tall, of slim build, with short black hair and a long face.

Meanwhile, in a separate attack an 84 year old was robbed at her home in Twaddell Avenue in north Belfast on Tuesday April 9. Two men conned their way into her home and asked her if she had any drugs. When she told them she did not, they threatened to suffocate her with a towel, which they held above her head. They then locked the pensioner in her bathroom while they ransacked every room of the house, leaving with a small amount of money.

The elderly woman escaped by breaking the window with her shoe and dropped five feet to the ground, cutting her hands and arms in the process

Detectives have appealed for anyone with information about either robbery to come forward. (AMcE)