An elderly woman is recovering in hospital today after she was dragged from her home, tied to a post and brutally assaulted by three burglars in Co Waterford at the weekend.
Gardaí in Dungarvan described the incident as one of the “most brutal” attacks they had investigated in recent years.
Three men broke into the 68-year-old woman’s house near Ardmore at about 4.30am on Saturday.
The men are understood to have entered the woman’s bedroom and tied her to the bed. She was then “severely beaten” until she told the intruders where her savings were located, according to gardaí.
The men then dragged the victim into her garden and tied her to a fence before making off with her savings.
The woman, who sustained serious injuries in the attack, managed to free herself and alert the gardaí. She was taken to Waterford Regional Hospital where she is said to be in a stable condition.
Gardaí have appealed to anybody with information to contact them at Dungarvan Garda station at 058-48600.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Garda Inspector Paul Heffernan condemned the attack. "It just beggars belief as to why this lady was subjected to this ordeal," he said.
Gda Insp Heffernan said the area was rural and isolated, and that anything unusual would have been noticed by people, particularly on the main road from Dungarvan to Youghal.
He said the victim was able to give some preliminary descriptions of her attackers, who he described as three males, possibly in their 20s, with one perhaps of larger build than the others.
He said there was no recent history of similar break-ins in the area.