Shock and revulsion that popular Pat Gillespie was robbed in his own home on Friday night: Pic by NorthWest Newspix
PAT Gillespie has masked men who robbed him in his home as “absolute scum.”
The 100-year-old was pinned to a chair as three men ransacked his home in Railway Street in the town at around 9:30 pm on Friday.
Police say the gang forced their way through a window of the back of his home and made off cash.
Mr Gillespie described his ordeal as “very, very frightening.”
“You could just see their eyes, they were very heavily masked,” he told BBC News NI.
Mr Gillespie was watching television at the time of the break in
“All of a sudden three fairly big, hefty men came buzzing past me,” he said.
“Two flew by me and went through the kitchen while the other stood behind me and put his full weight on my shoulders so I couldn’t move.”
The pensioner said the man who was holding him “turned my head very roughly towards the television” as the other two men ransacked his bedroom.
“After five or six minutes, the other two came back into the kitchen where I was sitting and they searched me, that’s when they got the money,” he said.
Mr Gillespie said he felt “powerless” throughout the ordeal.
The masked gang also removed his personal alarm before leaving Mr Gillespie’s home.
“It just shows how experienced they are,” he said.
He described those behind the robbery as “absolute scum”, adding: “It doesn’t matter if you are old or young, to break into anybody’s house is just not right.”
PSNI Detective Constable Richard Donnell said the attack as “disgusting and cowardly.”
“Thankfully, the man was not physically injured during the incident, however, he has been left shaken by the ordeal,” he said.
Police have appealed for anyone who has information about the robbers to contact detectives in Strabane on the 101 number.
Tags: