Thief attacks deaf woman, 85

From: NEWS.com.au, Australia - Jun 29, 2004

By EDITH BEVIN
June 29, 2004

An 85-year-old woman was attacked by a thief who broke into her Darwin home while she slept in the early hours of yesterday.

The profoundly deaf woman woke up to find the man standing at the doorway of her bedroom.

He shoved her aside when she confronted him and continued to rob the woman's home.

The woman had been home alone that night.

Police said the man had broken into the woman's home in Tiwi Gardens Rd, Tiwi, by levering open a lock on a lounge room window.

But after finding the bedroom door locked, he went back outside and smashed his way into the house through the bedroom window.

Detective Senior Constable Roger Desouza said the woman had not heard the glass smashing but had been woken by the breeze coming into her room.

"She certainly is traumatised by the whole thing," Sen-Constable Desouza said.

"They've broken one of the windows to her bedroom -- she's just felt the breeze blowing and woke up and realised that something wasn't right.

"She came out of the bedroom and saw this bloke standing there.

"He's pushed her out of the way and gone into the bedroom."

Sen-Constable Desouza said it was not known if the thief had been aware before he broke in that there was someone inside the house.

The woman is too scared to return to her home and has moved in with her daughter.

"We spoke to her today. Obviously she is distraught having experienced what she did," Sen-Constable Desouza said.

"She's bearing up but she's gone to live with her daughter because she doesn't want to go back to the house yet.

"It's a shocking crime -- particularly when it happens to an older member of the community."

The thief took the woman's handbag and cash, a video player and cigarettes. Sen-Constable Desouza said there had been no reports of similar crimes in the area recently.

The thief is described as being aged in his mid-20s and of part-Aboriginal appearance with a moustache.

He was wearing a brown or dark hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

In a separate incident, a 31-year-old man was in police custody yesterday after a home invasion at Malak on Sunday night.

About 11.50pm the male offender allegedly climbed a 1.8m mesh fence and entered the house by ripping the security screen off a door jamb.

The offender then allegedly assaulted a 26-year-old man.

He was caught by police soon after in Patterson St, Malak.

Northern Territory News

Copyright 2004 News Limited.