BY VICKI WELLER AND NOEL O’DRISCOLL
ELDERLY people were targeted in two separate daytime incidents in Newbridge and Monasterevin where an 87-year old woman and an elderly man were left shocked, distressed and traumatised.
In Newbridge the elderly man, who was asleep in his bed in the middle of the afternoon, awoke to discover two intruders standing in his room.
The incident occurred at Rowan Terrace in Newbridge town centre on Tuesday 26 January, between 3 and 4pm.
It is understood that the man, who is very elderly, was actually lying in his bed when his room was entered by a man and a woman.
The pair stole a sum of money from the pocket of the trousers which the man had left lying on the end of the bed, before running from the house. The victim was described as having been extremely frightened and upset by the incident.
The female is described by gardaí as being in her 20s, with brown hair and wearing a leopard skin-patterned jacket. The man is described as in his 40s, with short brown hair.
As this incident occurred in the middle of the afternoon, the gardaí would like to hear from anyone who may have seen this couple in the Rowan Terrace or town centre area on Tuesday last. Anyone with information can contact Newbridge garda station on 045 431212.
In Monasterevin, quick thinking by the 87-year old woman, who pretended to have a man in the house, scared the intruders off but the woman was left terrified and very distressed by the incident.
The woman answered her door in St Evin’s Park to a blonde-haired woman at approximately 6.50pm on Monday evening last 1 February.
The woman asked her for a pen and paper to leave a note for the elderly woman’s neighbour.
It was then that three men brushed past her and made their way into the woman’s home.
However she had her wits about her and shouted after the men not to ‘wake the man there’. With that the three men scarpered and the woman called the gardaí.
There was nothing taken from the house and Sergeant Niall Lynch of Monasterevin garda station appealed to people to be aware of this kind of activity.
“There was a trend around the country of people calling to houses saying they were with the council and that they were there to read the water meter. Lately, though, they seem to be claiming to want to leave a note for a neighbour and we would appeal to everyone to be aware of this type of incident.”
Anyone with any information on this incident is asked to contact Monasterevin gardai at 045 525322.