An 82-year-old man was hospitalised last evening after being beaten by two men during a robbery at his Stone Avenue, Section K Campbellville home.
Cecil Murray and his two nieces were attacked by two men shortly after 6 pm last evening. The men escaped with a quantity of jewellery, cash and some other items which were the property of the two nieces.
According to one of the nieces, she and a cousin were in the living room using the computer, when their uncle entered the house without securing the door. The woman said that this was a normal practice. She said that it was while her uncle entered his bedroom in order to write her a cheque, that two men entered the house. She said the men held them up with a knife and then proceeded to relieve them of their valuables. The woman said that men relieved her of two diamond rings, her watch and chain along with a cell phone and a small amount of cash. The wallet of the second woman in the house was also taken.
She explained that during the confrontation, her uncle came out and the two men demanded money from him. When Murray informed the men that he did not have any, one of the men began to beat him with a piece of wood, while the other was urging his accomplice to kill Murray. According to the niece, even when Murray was being attacked he was struggling with the bandit who was hitting him and this resulted in the bandit losing some of his clothes. This included a shirt and a baseball cap which were left at the scene of the crime.
The niece said that during all this, there appeared to be a third man who was keeping watch from the door. Murray was left with a badly bloodied and bruised face and was subsequently taken to the hospital.
After the attack, the men made their getaway on foot. An alarm was raised and a neighbour pursued the men who ran west towards Sheriff Street. The men reportedly into the Botanical Gardens. Police were in the gardens last night searching for the men.
Meanwhile, one of the nieces told this newspaper that some neighbours said that they observed some suspicious looking men liming around the area during the day.
The woman said that she believed that the men probably thought the man was alone. She told this newspaper that Murray had lived alone for sometime but one of his nieces recently decided to move back home with him.
