Londonderry: Woman, 90, held at knifepoint says perpetrators are 'wicked'

The 90-year-old woman, who does not want to be identified, said the intruders brandished hammers and a knife

A 90-year-old woman held at knifepoint in her home by a gang of masked men has said those responsible for her ordeal are "wicked".

The victim, who does not want to be identified, was threatened during a burglary in Londonderry on Sunday.

Police said nothing was stolen.

The woman, who was home alone at the time, was prevented from leaving by one of the intruders. Her phone line was also cut to stop her from raising the alarm.

She told BBC News NI that a noise woke her up in her home in Ross Bay, in the Waterside of the city.

When she got up to investigate, she was met by a group of men.

"As I got to the kitchen door, a man appeared with two men behind him," she said.

"And I think he said: 'Hello there.'"

The woman was held in her home in Ross Bay in the Waterside area of the city

Moving with a walking frame, she sat down in a chair as she "didn't feel too safe" while the man stood at the door.

"He got two hammers out of the toolbox and put them in the kitchen. And he had a knife in his hand, which I presume he used to cut all the telephone wires," she said.

"Whether he was going to do more, I don't know. But I had a feeling that if I tried to get up from that chair and get out of the room, he would stop me. So I felt it better to stay in the chair."

'What's he going to do next?'

She added: "I said to him, several times: 'Do you realise the Lord Jesus will know everything you do and he knows everything you say?'

"And he didn't say anything, so I repeated it. And he said: 'I don't believe in God.'"

The man told her they had come because they wanted money - to which she replied that a friend handles her money matters for her. She refused to tell him who that friend was.

"He stood there and I was in that chair. I certainly felt nervous because I thought: 'Well what's he going to do next?'

"So I didn't feel very comfortable, to put it mildly."

As she was being held at knifepoint, the other men checked drawers in rooms through her house.

Earlier on Monday, PSNI Insp Gerard Campbell told BBC Radio Foyle's The North West Today that he didn't think the woman would "ever be the same".

She echoed this when she spoke to BBC News NI on Monday afternoon.

"I don't feel too settled or happy as to what might happen another time."

Referring to the perpetrators, she added: "I think they're very bad and wicked. I mean, that's all they are.

"They don't consider at all other people's feelings."

The victim's nephew, Geoffrey McMullan, said the incident was "pretty rotten behaviour"

Her nephew, Geoffrey McMullan, said he first learned of what happened to his aunt when she called him using her carer's phone several hours later, at about 07:00 GMT.

"She [said she] had three men in her house and could I come quick, they had cut the phone lines," he said.

"The first I knew was [when] I went into the kitchen and there were three knifes, carving knives, and a couple of hammers.

"I should think it was pretty unnerving. You don't know what would happen."

Mr McMullan said that while his aunt was physically unharmed, he worries about the long-term impact of the incident.

"She did have a job to sleep last night I think," he said.

"She's just a bit anxious about the way ahead for her, with being in her own house."

He added: "It's pretty rotten behaviour I would say.

"Why they had to cut every phone line when she obviously couldn't do anything anyway, it was pretty severe.

"And she had to wait three hours before she could contact anybody for help."

This was the latest of three burglaries in the area in recent weeks.