Parsley slams merciless robbery

10.17.00pm GMT Sun 5th Mar 2006

North Down Alliance Councillor Ian James Parsley has slammed an attack on an elderly gentleman in his Holywood home, describing it as "merciless".

The Holywood representatives stated: "This attack is utterly shocking. We have heard a lot in recent months about attacks on vulnerable people in the home, but such attacks have been rare in Holywood.

"Have the perpetrators of such crimes no mercy? Attacking and robbing people who cannot defend themselves in their own home is a crime of the most appalling nature, one which no one, far less a pensioner, should have to undergo.

"Again we have to ask serious questions of the society we live in, where this is allowed to happen. Those community leaders who shirk the responsibility of dealing with criminality regardless of its source or origin bear responsibility for the continuation of such actions. There is simply no excuse for this sort of behaviour.

"Society simply cannot go on accepting merciless attacks on vulnerable people in their own home. People must know that the home is a place of privacy and safety."

ENDS