83-year-old chased ransacking thieves

Rodney Edwards • Published 11 Mar 2010 12:00

HEARTLESS thieves have robbed the home of this Fermanagh pensioner and his vulnerable son.

83-year-old Mervyn Trotter who lives with his son Victor, who has learning difficulties, were left very shaken by the theft.

In just minutes the thieves, thought to be in their late teens, gained entry to the house, ransacked every room and made of with 57-year-old Victor's £270 savings.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter, Mervyn explained how he and his son had just returned from their local shop when they realised their Derrygonnelly home had been robbed.

"I went down to the wee shop to lift the pension before nine in the morning. Then I came up to the house and Victor came along with me. I turned the car the opposite way outside the front of the house to let the sun shine against it and melt the ice around the windows. I wanted to warm it up a bit too, you know. Then I heard all this chatting behind me," he explained.

"I could hear talking but I had my back to them. I turned around and seen these pair of boys running away, they ran down towards a bend below the house and out of sight. One shouted to the other 'have you the money with you?' I'm not very mobile for about six years now because I broke my hinch and can't get around too quickly, but I jumped into the car and turned it around and followed the boys. I followed them running into a silo pit at a neighbour's farm. It was about a quarter of a mile down the road. I drove in after them but I wasn't able to get out of the car to run after them," he said.

The pensioner returned to his home once again and phoned for police, who he claims didn't turn up for one hour and a half. Though the PSNI robustly denied that when we contacted them yesterday. Once back inside Mervyn was horrified to find that every room in his neat and tidy home had been wrecked by the lads.

"They fired clothes off the bed and out of drawers and everywhere else. You'd want to have seen the house, the mess they made. I had a pile of stuff on the table because I don't like to be running about looking for them, medicines and all that I take for diabetes, and they had thrown everything about the floor. I have never seen such a pack of hooligans in my entire living life. They went round every room and every box. Everything was opened up and looked at. They heeled everything off onto the floors. There's only the two of us here, me and Victor, and we've always tried to keep the place tidy. It's maddening that they got away with the son's money," he said.

Ulster Unionist Councillor Alex Baird said he is "disgusted" by the "despicable attack". "I call on the community to be alert and if they have any information on this crime they must have no qualms about giving it to the police. Incidents like this highlight the benefits of Neighbourhood Watch and I would call on the people of the Derrygonnelly area to consider setting up such a scheme.

"How would I describe the thieves? Cowardly. Two cowardly thieves who should be ashamed of themselves," he said.

Police are adamant that the young thieves will be caught.

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This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 11 Mar 10

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