A disabled pensioner was beaten and threatened with having her hand nailed to a table during a robbery at her Co Antrim home.
The woman, who is in her 60s, has been detained in hospital with extensive bruising after her ordeal.
Two masked men armed with sticks entered her home at Brooke Park, in the Hallyville area of Ballymena late last night, threatened her and beat her with the sticks. The woman suffered bruising to the head, arms, hands and legs after being battered with the sticks and also suffered scrapes to her arms.
The intruders ransacked the living room of the house and found a piggy bank which they smashed and took the contents. While the room was being ransacked one of the men found a four inch nail and threatened to nail the pensioner's hand to the table.
A PSNI spokeswoman said that at some stage during her ordeal the woman, who was alone in the house at the time, passed out and when she came round the men had gone. She then raised the alarm.
PA