By Chris Thornton
Pensioners are being attacked in their own homes every other day - even though police insist they are less likely to be assaulted than other age groups.
The rise in attacks over the past five years reflects all kinds of incidents - from thugs who break into a home and threaten the elderly occupant for cash to assaults from their own family.
The attackers leave behind a catalogue of misery and fear.
Brothers Bill and Tommy Killen, aged 82 and 89, became victims of a robbery gang earlier this year.
Three robbers, wielding a baseball bat, broke into their house in Drumaness, Co Down, and struck one of them on the head before escaping with cash.
In February, 92-year-old Charlie Stead was murdered by an attacker who slipped into the Dundonald home where he had lived for 40 years.
The former Royal Navy sailor had suffered a blow to the head - but police said there was nothing to suggest he had been robbed.
In January, it emerged that a hood in Clabby, Co Tyrone, had attacked 73-year-old Gerald Storey, punching him in the face when he answered a knock on his front door. Youths later threatened him when he reported the attack to police.
In December last year, a 68-year-old Castlederg man was tied up and beaten in his home.
In November 2006, an 80-year-old man was punched repeatedly by an intruder to his Newtownabbey home. His drunken attacker was jailed for two months.
Arthur McMaster (66) was attacked in 2004 with a hammer and knife by his daughter-in-law, Jacqueline McMaster. She was jailed for five years.
Belfast Telegraph
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