Robbers told Scottish OAP: ‘we will kill you’ before stealing jewellery

A pensioner attacked by masked robbers in her home told how the men threatened to kill her before tearing sentimental jewellery off her arms and spraying her with bleach.

The 84-year-old woman was watching television at home in Castlemilk, Glasgow, on Tuesday evening when three men broke into the house just before 9:30pm by smashing the conservatory door.

The men, who covered their faces during the brutal attack, tore gold bracelets from the pensioner’s wrists, leaving them severely bruised.

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Speaking on condition of anonymity, the elderly woman said: “I thought I was going to die.

“He said if I screamed he was going to kill me. He began pulling my gold bracelets, given to me by my mother, from my hands and he then dug his nails into one hand.

“He sprayed me with a bleach bottle so I couldn’t see but I noticed he was white with blue eyes.

“He locked me in the bathroom and I managed to get out but they had gone.”

The woman alerted her neighbours, who called 999. She was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow for treatment after enduring swollen and bruised hands and wrists, a bruised back, and shock.

The men sprayed bleach on her clothing and stole her house keys, as well as cash and thousands of pounds worth of family jewellery.

The victim’s son believed the attack was targeted and said he felt fortunate his mother did not suffer a heart attack during the ordeal. He said: “I’d gone out that night and I believe these men knew exactly what they were going to do and had been waiting.

“My mum was sitting watching TV, that’s what she usually does around that time at night, when she heard the conservatory door smash and three men appeared in front of her.

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“She stood up as one of the men appeared, a white guy with blue eyes, and they all had balaclavas.

“She said two of the men jumped upstairs while the other guy grabbed her in a violent hug, picked her up and threw her into the bathroom.

“My mum doesn’t speak much English but he made a sign to her as if cutting his own throat and said to her ‘I’m going to kill to kill you if you shout anything.’

“She was absolutely terrified, she might not understand much English but she knew what his threat meant.”

Police are trying to trace an Audi seen in the area at the time, and have said the suspects are all white and male.

The victim’s son added: “All I can say about these men is that they are animals. Both of us haven’t slept a wink since it happened and my mum can’t stop crying.

“We haven’t had a problem for 14 years and this happens when my mum is 84 years old.

“I thank God that my mum isn’t dead, she could have had a heart attack from the fright.”